Have You Made A Will?

If you haven?t made a will ? and an estimated 70% of the population don?t ? you could leave your family with a real mess to sort out. Many people assume that their estate will normally be passed to their spouse or their nearest relative if they died. In fact the estate of someone who dies intestate ? that is without making a valid last will ? would be divided up according to the Law on Intestacy.

So just where would your money and property go? In England and Wales if you die intestate your property will be divided up as follows:

• Only if you have NO children, brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces would your spouse inherit everything;

• If you have children, your spouse will inherit your personal belongings plus £125,000 and half of whatever else is left. Children are entitled to half of what is left when they reach the age of eighteen or if they marry whilst under the age of eighteen. They also have half of whatever else is left on the death of the surviving parent;

• If you have no children but you do have parents, brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces, then your spouse will receive personal belongings plus £200,000 and half of the residue. The other half of the residue will go to parents or if they have pre-deceased you then to brothers and sisters but if they have also pre-deceased, then to nephews and nieces;

• > If you do not have a surviving spouse then everything is taken, first, by children but if there are none then everything passes to your parents but if they have pre-deceased you then to your brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces but if you do not have any then to grandparents but if there are none alive then to Aunts, Uncles and Cousins.

• If there are no members of the family then everything you have would be forfeited to the state.

If you?re put off by the cost of making a will bear in mind that sorting out the estate of someone who dies intestate costs far more. The internet has made making a will easier than ever before. Divorce-online.co.uk has a Will Making service, click through from the top of our Legal channel for details.