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Welcome to the World Network of Christopher Hall

Have you made a Will?

Click here to make your Will in minutes.

It's easy to put off making a Will. But if you die without one your assets may be distributed according to the law rather than your wishes. This could mean that your partner receives less, or that the money goes to family members who may not need it.

Making a Will - why it's important

There are lots of good financial reasons for making a Will:

you can decide how your assets are shared out - if you don't make a Will, the law says who gets what
if you aren't married or in a civil partnership (whether or not it's a same sex relationship) your partner Will not inherit automatically - you can make sure your partner is provided for
if you're divorced or if your civil partnership has been dissolved you can decide whether to leave anything to an ex-partner who's living with someone else
you can make sure you don't pay more Inheritance Tax than necessary

Who inherits if you don't have a Will?

If you don't have a Will there are rules for deciding who inherits your assets, depending on your personal circumstances. The following provisions apply only in England and Wales, the law differs if you die intestate (without a Will) in Scotland or Northern Ireland:

If you're married or in a civil partnership and your estate is worth �125,000 or less

Everything goes to your husband, wife or civil partner.

If you're married or in a civil partnership and your estate is worth over �125,000

Your husband, wife or civil partner won't automatically get everything, although they Will receive:

personal items, such as household articles and cars, but nothing used for business purposes
�125,000 free of tax or*200,000 if there are no children; however this is restricted to �55,000 if you were domiciled (had your permanent home) in the UK and they were not
a life interest in half of the rest of the estate (on his or her death this Will pass to the children or as detailed below)

The rest of the estate Will be shared by the following:

children (or if none, grandchildren) Will get an equal share
if there are no children or grandchildren, surviving parents Will get a share
if there are no children, grandchildren or surviving parents, any brothers and sisters (who shared the same two parents as the deceased) Will get a share (or their children if they died while the deceased was still alive)
if the deceased has none of the above, the husband, wife or registered civil partner Will get everything

If you are partners but aren't married or in a civil partnership

If you aren't married or registered civil partners, you won't automatically get a share of your partner's estate if they die without making a Will.

If they haven't provided for you in some other way, your only option is to make a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. See the section below 'If you feel you've not received reasonable financial provision'.

If there is no surviving spouse/civil partner

The estate is distributed as follows:

to surviving children in equal shares (or to their children if they died while the deceased was still alive)
if there are no children, to parents (equally, if both alive)
if there are no surviving parents, to brothers and sisters (who shared the same two parents as the deceased), or to their children if they died while the deceased was still alive
if there are no brothers or sisters then to half brothers or sisters (or to their children if they died while the deceased was still alive)
if none of the above then to grandparents (equally if more than one)
if there are no grandparents to aunts and uncles (or their children if they died while the deceased was still alive)
if none of the above, then to half uncles or aunts (or their children if they died while the deceased was still alive)
to the Crown if there are none of the above

It'll take longer to sort out your affairs if you don't have a Will. This could mean extra distress for your relatives and dependants until they can draw money from your estate.

Click here to make your Will in minutes.

Please Contact us for further information.