Dying without a will can cause a lot of problems for your surviving family.
In such cases, it’s called intestate succession, meaning the applicable law determines the beneficiaries of your estate.
However, this doesn’t fulfill your wishes and this is the reason why you should always have an estate plan in place.
Here, you will see what happens if you don’t have and die without a will.
Why you should have a will
If you die without a valid will, then your property, money, and possessions are shared out to the beneficiaries according to the law.
As a result, your estate doesn’t go to the right people as you had intended.
Worse still, the person you wished had inherited the things might end up with nothing.
Remember that it doesn’t matter the type of relationship you had before you passed on.
As you can see, it’s important to have a will that clearly states who gets your property and money.
This is the only way you can prevent distress to your surviving family after your death.
After all, your loved ones might already be going through a difficult time, meaning you should do the right thing by having a will.
Intestate comes in handy when you die without a will.
However, the applicable law varies depending on where you live.
Regardless of this difference, below are some common rules that apply if you die without a valid will:
- If you are unmarried, then your partner doesn’t get anything after your death.
- If you’re married, your surviving partner can inherit all or most of your estate. Also, your children might not inherit anything.
- You are responsible for paying inheritance tax, but this tax can be higher than the one you have to pay if you had a will.
- The government inherits your estate if you passed away without a valid will.
The benefits of having a will
There is no doubt that a will helps you to share the estate to the beneficiaries of your choice.
But you need to review your will regularly to make sure that it stays up-to-date when you pass on.
Here is how you can update your will periodically. If there are significant changes in your family, consider reviewing your will.
Changes such as deaths, births, and a decrease or increase in your assets’ value require reviewing your will.
The best way to do it is by hiring a solicitor to ensure that you get what you want when you die.
KingsGuard solicitors will help you with estate planning and other important options, such as reviewing a will after a divorce.
It’s crucial to create a new will soon after divorce.
With a new will, it means that the previous will is automatically and legally revoked.
Hence, a new will has to reflect the changes you make like leaving assets to the people of your choice.
Above all, a new will should have an executor to manage your estate after you pass on and have a guardian for your kids.