Background and Summary Intestacy
6.The intestacy rules determine the distribution on a person’s death of any of his or her property that is not governed by a valid will. They are largely contained in the Administration of Estates Act 1925 and the Intestates’ Estates Act 1952. Priority is given to any surviving spouse or civil partner of the deceased, followed by blood relatives (children and other descendants, parents, siblings and their descendants, grandparents, aunts and uncles and their descendants).
7.The Law Commission’s review considered all aspects of the intestacy rules, including the circumstances in which a surviving spouse or civil partner is required to share the deceased’s property with other relatives, the order of priority between the different classes of relative and the way in which property is divided between the different generations within each class.