⚠️ This guide is for general information only and was researched and updated in May 2026. It is not legal or tax advice. Tax and succession laws change frequently and depend on your circumstances. For advice on your situation, please consult a qualified solicitor and tax adviser.
What the law decides for you when you have not decided yourself
Who the law treats as family when someone dies, including unmarried partners, stepchildren and former spouses
An unmarried partner has no automatic right to inherit anything under the intestacy rules, however long the couple lived together
Source: Administration of Estates Act 1925, section 46 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
An unmarried partner who lived with the deceased as a couple for the whole of the two years before the death can ask a court for provision from the estate, but the court decides whether to award anything: it is a claim, not an entitlement
Source: Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, section 1 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
When someone dies without a will leaving a spouse and children, the spouse does not automatically receive the whole estate: above a fixed statutory legacy, half of what remains passes to the children
Source: Administration of Estates Act 1925, section 46 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
Stepchildren who were never legally adopted do not inherit from a step-parent under the intestacy rules, even if they were raised as part of the family
Source: Administration of Estates Act 1925, section 46 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
After a divorce, gifts to the former spouse in an existing will take effect as if the former spouse had died on the date of the divorce, while the rest of the will stays in force
Source: Wills Act 1837, section 18A (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
A spouse, civil partner and children have legal rights to a share of the moveable estate, such as money and shares, which they may claim instead of whatever the will leaves them
Source: Succession (Scotland) Act 1964 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
A cohabitant has no automatic right to inherit when there is no will; they can apply to a court for a share, but the claim has to be made within six months of the death
Source: Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006, section 29 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
After a divorce, provisions in a will for the former spouse take effect as if the former spouse had died before the person who made the will
Source: Succession (Scotland) Act 2016, section 1 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
A surviving spouse is entitled to a legal right share of the estate, one-third if the deceased left children and one-half if not, whatever the will says
Source: Succession Act 1965, section 111 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
A cohabitant has no automatic share of the estate; only a qualified cohabitant can ask a court for provision, and the court decides whether to award anything
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
A divorce revokes gifts to the former spouse in an existing will, and their appointment as executor, unless the will says otherwise
Source: Wills Act 1997 (Vic), section 14 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
A spouse, domestic partner, child and some other people can ask a court to order provision from an estate after the death, whatever the will says
Source: Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic), Part IV (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
Without a will, a surviving spouse does not always receive all of the deceased's separate property: depending on which relatives survive, a share passes to children, parents or siblings
Source: California Probate Code, section 6401 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
How the way an asset is owned can decide who receives it, whatever a will says
A home owned as joint tenants passes automatically to the surviving owner, whatever the deceased's will says about it
Source: GOV.UK: Joint property ownership (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
A married person can leave by will only their own half of community property, because the other half already belongs to the surviving spouse
Source: California Probate Code, section 100 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
How inheritance and estate taxes treat different relationships and different sizes of estate
Assets left to a spouse or civil partner are exempt from Inheritance Tax, but the exemption does not extend to an unmarried partner, however long the relationship
Source: Inheritance Tax Act 1984, section 18 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
Inheritance Tax is normally charged at 40% on the part of an estate worth more than the £325,000 threshold
Source: GOV.UK: Inheritance Tax (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
For Capital Acquisitions Tax, an unmarried partner is treated like an unrelated person and falls in the group with the lowest tax-free threshold
Source: Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003, Schedule 2 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
The federal estate tax applies only to estates worth more than a filing threshold set for each year, so most estates owe none
Source: IRS: Estate tax (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
Who may name a guardian for a child, and what happens when nobody has
Only a parent with parental responsibility, or an existing guardian, can appoint a guardian for a child to act after their death, and the appointment has to be made in writing
Source: Children Act 1989, section 5 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
A parent who is a guardian of a child can appoint, by will or by deed, someone to be the child's guardian after their death
Source: Guardianship of Infants Act 1964, section 7 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
A parent can nominate a guardian for their child, but the nomination takes effect only when a court makes the appointment
Source: California Probate Code, section 1500 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
Formal rules that can change or cancel a will without the person who made it noticing
Getting married automatically revokes an existing will, unless the will was made expecting that particular marriage
Source: Wills Act 1837, section 18 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
A gift in a will to someone who witnessed it, or to the witness's spouse or civil partner, is void, although the rest of the will remains valid
Source: Wills Act 1837, section 15 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
Getting married revokes an existing will, unless the will was made in contemplation of that marriage
Source: Succession Act 1965, section 85 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
Getting married revokes an existing will, unless the will was made in contemplation of that marriage
Source: Wills Act 1997 (Vic), section 13 (opens in a new tab)
Last checked 3 Oct 2026
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