As of today, 1 October 2014, the rules on what happens to the money and assets of a person who dies without leaving a will have changed. These rules are known as the intestacy rules and they have experienced their first major change since 1925.
The rule changes will only affect those who die with assets in excess of £250,000, but, surprisingly, the new rules make no attempt to benefit co-habitees.
Married couples and civil partners will see changes from the new rules, and those with children will benefit from clearer regulation.
Under previous guidelines which governed couples without children, the surviving spouse/partner would receive the first £450,000 of the estate plus half of anything over this amount, while the other half of the estate went to the siblings and parents. Under the new rules, the surviving spouse/partner will inherit the entirety of the estate.
The rules surrounding couples with children will be significantly simplified. The complicated system of a ‘life interest’ trust has been abolished. In its place, new guidelines dictate that the first £250,000 and half of the remaining assets of the estate will go to the surviving spouse/partner, and the other half to the children, to be held on trust until they turn 18.
While the changes constitute the biggest overhaul of this area of law, some have noted the failure of the new rules to take into account co-habiting partners. This means that a surviving partner who wasn’t married or in a civil partnership with the deceased has no automatic right to inherit under the deceased’s estate. Lawyers highlighted this as an area of law seriously requiring attention ahead of the changes.
Head of wills for the Co-operative Legal Services James Antoniou said: “One of the initial proposals that was not included in the agreed changes was to include co-habitees in the intestacy rules to reflect living circumstances in today’s society.
“This would have seen a co-habitee treated like a spouse if they had been living with the deceased for at least five years up until death, or if they had children together and had been living together for at least two years up until death.”
Thus, it remains the case that unmarried partners wanting to ensure that part or all of their assets are left to the remaining partner must either get married or make a will to that effect.