It is easy to assume that getting married means your husband, wife or civil partner will automatically inherit everything you own.

In some circumstances they may inherit the whole estate, but that is not a substitute for deciding what you actually want to happen and recording those wishes in a valid Will.

If somebody dies without a valid Will in England and Wales, their estate is distributed under the rules of intestacy.

Those rules look at the family circumstances at the date of death rather than trying to work out what the person would have wanted.

Does a spouse automatically inherit everything?

Not always.

Where someone dies intestate leaving a spouse or civil partner but no children or other descendants, the spouse or civil partner generally inherits the whole intestate estate.

Where there are children or other descendants, different rules apply.

Under the current rules, the surviving spouse or civil partner receives the personal chattels, a statutory legacy and half of the remaining estate. The other half of the residue passes to the deceased's children or their descendants under the intestacy rules.

The statutory legacy is currently £322,000 for deaths from 26 July 2023, but statutory figures can change and should always be checked against current government guidance.

What about children and blended families?

This is one reason making a Will can be particularly important for families with children from previous relationships, stepchildren or other people they want to provide for.

The intestacy rules do not simply recreate what somebody might have chosen themselves.

For example, stepchildren are not treated as the deceased's children for intestacy purposes unless they have been legally adopted.

A Will gives you an opportunity to set out who should benefit from your estate, rather than relying on the statutory order of inheritance.

What happens to an existing Will when you marry?

Marriage or entering into a civil partnership will usually revoke an existing Will.

That means someone who made a Will before getting married should not assume the old document will continue to operate as intended.

There are circumstances where a Will can be made in contemplation of a particular marriage or civil partnership, so individual advice can be important.

What about jointly owned property?

How an asset passes can also depend on how it is owned.

Joint ownership, beneficiary nominations and assets that fall outside an estate can make the overall position more complicated than simply looking at the intestacy rules.

That is why estate planning should consider the wider picture rather than treating a Will as an isolated document.

Will writing support around Richmond

Richmond Wills & Probate assists individuals and families across Richmond, Teddington, Twickenham and South West London with Will writing, Lasting Powers of Attorney, probate and estate administration.

For married couples and civil partners, making a Will can provide clarity over who should inherit, who should administer the estate and how family circumstances should be reflected.

Marriage gives spouses and civil partners important inheritance rights, but it does not remove the value of making your own wishes clear.

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This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Intestacy and estate-planning outcomes depend on individual circumstances and current law.