Martin Lewis Money Show: Death Is Where Marriage Really Counts – Wills & Intestacy Rules

In the most recent Martin Lewis Money Show in his most recent show (13^th February 2025), he mentioned that “death is where marriage really counts”.

In our other blog, we explained the implications of inheritance tax on marriage/civil partnership and how they are affected.

In this blog, I will be explaining about Wills and the Intestacy Rules and how being married or in a civil partnership can affect how your estate is distributed on death.

How will Marriage affect my Will?

If you have a Will, your Will shall determine who inherits your estate regardless of whether you are married or not.

If you make a Will before you are married, but are intending to marry your partner, or enter into a civil partnership, you must be aware that marriage will revoke the Will if it is not made in contemplation of that marriage or civil partnership taking place. Therefore, it is important that you use a Solicitor and advise them of any intentions of marriage so that the relevant clause can be included in your Wills.

What are Intestacy Rules?

If you do not have a Will on your death, the Intestacy Rules will determine who inherits your estate. This is a legal framework which has an order of priority depending on your marital status.

If you die without a Will and are married, then your spouse will inherit the first £322,000 of your estate and personal chattels. Thereafter, if you have children, the rest of the estate is split 50/50 between spouse and children. This also applies to civil partners.

If you die without a Will and are not married, then your partner will not receive any of your estate as they are not recognised by the Intestacy Rules. It would therefore pass to your children and bypass your partner. If you do not have any children, then it would pass to your family in a certain order.

This is why it is so important that you make a Will as you have the choice of who inherits your estate and in what proportion.

But what if we get divorced?

If you get divorced, the gifts and appointments (of executors) in your Will to the person to whom you have divorced shall fail. This means that they will not be able to act as executor and they will not benefit from your Will.

It is therefore crucial that you keep matters under review in relation to all the above, to ensure that your wishes are adhered to and can take effect.