WILL MY PARTNER BE OKAY WITHOUT A WILL?
LEGAL CLINIC
By Matt Parr
Dear Matt
My partner and I have been together for 6 years and
although we’re not civilly married, I was wondering what
our rights were in case of an accident or death. We currently
rent and don’t own our house, but we do have various other
assets such as stocks and savings. Neither of us have made a
will. What would happen to the surviving partner if the
worst was to happen? Would my assets go directly to him?
The simple answer is no. Currently co-habiting
partners have no (automatic) legal right to
inheritance from their Partner’s estate unless such
inheritance is granted in a Will. Only assets that
are held Jointly (such as Joint Bank Accounts) will
pass to the surviving Partner by the process of
Survivorship and requires the simple removal of
the deceased Partner’s name from the account etc;
such assets are not affected by the presence (nor
contents) of any Will. In the case where the
deceased Partner left no Will (or a defective/
invalid Will) all assets held in the deceased
Partner’s sole name will pass according to the
Laws of Intestacy. The Laws of Intestacy stipulate
who will inherit the estate in a strict order of
priority of blood relatives, spouse/civil partner,
children, parents, siblings and so on and so forth,
co-habiting partners do not feature in this list!
My advice would be to always seek professional
advice of a Solicitor to draw up appropriate
“Mirror” Wills to ensure that the loved ones left
behind are not unwittingly disinherited through
inaction.
THEGAYUK FEB/MARCH
2014
LEGAL
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