Do you live with your partner? Do you know how your estates are split on death if you do not make a will?
Proposed UK government reforms, outlined in a ministry of Justice consultation, aim to grant automatic inheritance and financial rights to cohabiting, unmarried coupled in England and Wales.
If you die without leaving a will you do not get to choose who inherits your estate, the law does. The terms and conditions are set out in the Intestacy Rules. There is no provision under these rules for unmarried partners who may have lived together for their entire life, had children and accumulated joint wealth during their relationship. People just assume the survivor is entitled to everything.
It is only those assets held jointly by the unmarried couple which automatically pass to the surviving owner of those assets. Anything held in the sole name of the deceased will pass under the Intestacy Rules regardless of the length of the relationship, and there is nothing the one left behind can do.
Personal items, phones, laptops, cars, houses, cash, investments and sometimes pension entitlements are all captured by the Intestacy Rules. At a time when the one left behind is already emotional imagine not having their phone, your family photos on the laptop.
As things stand if an unmarried person dies without leaving a will their children will inherit the estate, if they have any. If not, their parents will. If their parents have died it will go to the brothers and sisters of the deceased. Can you imagine the position for the survivor if there is a rift with the "in-laws". The only option, as it stands, is for the survivor to bring what is known as a 1975 Act claim to ask a Court to decide what they could receive, if there is no way of mediating an agreement.
If the Government has its way and the proposals turn into law, if one unmarried partner dies they would be able to inherit assets in certain circumstances. This does not tackle the inheritance tax problem which would still remain but would at least save litigation and funds being lost to solicitors from the estate. This change is going to be years away though as consultation is only the beginning.
The only way to ensure your partner receives your estate is to make a will and that's what we are here to help with!
The consultation closed to to comments from the public on 14 August. If you would like to read details of the consultation, here i
s the link
If you want to read a BBC article from July 2026 covering the subject, here is the link
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