If you die without a will, your assets (after debts) are gifted in a manner called intestacy laws. These laws have been out of date for years, but finally the government is going to update them from February 2009, for England and Wales.
Currently, if you die without making a will and you leave a spouse/civil partner and children, the spouse is only entitled to the first £125,000 of your estate. This often means that a family home might need to be sold. This figure is going to be increased next year to £250,000 meaning that more spouses/civil partner will not need to sell the family home, just to abide by the laws of intestacy.
If you don’t leave a will but leave a spouse/civil partner and you have no children, then currently your spouse can claim just £200,000. This figure will increase to a more sensible £450,000. There appears more chance that in these circumstances that the spouse/civil partner will be able to keep the family home and probably some other financial assets as well as the average priced house in the UK is well below this level, unless of course, you live inside the M25 and those other selected areas.
The government was worried that intestacy figures had fallen out of line with real life.
Justice Minister Bridget Prentice said: “This increase will give extra protection to married couples and civil partners whose spouse or civil partner dies without making a will.”
“But it also highlights how important it is for both men and women to make arrangements for their loved ones in the event of their deaths.”
“Married couples and civil partners should not assume that when their spouse or civil partner dies, they will automatically be entitled to everything. It is up to individuals to make sure that their wishes are respected by making a will.”
“My message to people is, don’t leave it to chance. Make sure your loved ones are properly provided for by leaving a will.”
LSUK completely agree with that last statement; why leave matters to chance when for a relatively small fee, you can put your will writing affairs in order?
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