The Pitfalls of Not Having a Will

Created: 22 July 2026

Why putting it off could cost your family more than money.

Most people recognise the importance of writing a Will, but studies suggest that fewer than four in ten adults in the UK actually have one. The rest are relying, often without realising it, on a set of default rules written by Parliament rather than by them, measures that decide who gets what when they die, regardless of what they would have wanted.

For families, that gap between intention and law is where the real damage happens. It rarely shows up as a single dramatic loss. More often, it's a gradual accumulation of delays, expenses, and disagreements, landing on people who are already experiencing a period of grief. Avenue Solicitors explore what this looks like in practice, and why acting now is far more valuable than most people assume.

Intestacy hands control to the state, not your family

Dying without a valid Will means your estate is distributed under the rules of intestacy, set out in the Administration of Estates Act 1925. These rules follow a strict order of priority: spouse or civil partner first, then children, then parents, then siblings, and so on. There is no flexibility for individual circumstances, no account taken of who actually needs support, and no room for personal wishes. Even for married couples, the outcome can surprise people. Where there's a surviving spouse and children, the spouse currently receives the first £322,000 of the estate, plus personal possessions, with the remainder split: half to the spouse and half shared between the children. On paper, it sounds generous, but in practice, for a family whose wealth is tied up in a house worth more than that figure, it can mean a surviving spouse is forced to sell the family home to release a child's statutory share, at the worst possible moment.

Unmarried couples are left with nothing

This is the pitfall that catches the most families off guard. There is no such thing as "common law marriage" in England and Wales, however long a couple has lived together. Under intestacy, a cohabiting partner, even one of twenty or thirty years, even one who raised children and ran a household together, has no automatic right to inherit anything at all.

Their only recourse is a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, which means proving financial dependency to a court, instructing solicitors, and accepting a contested, uncertain process at a time of profound loss. It is expensive, slow, and far from guaranteed to succeed. A Will avoids all of it. This is also an area under active scrutiny; cohabitation rights are currently being reconsidered as part of wider family law reform, but reforming the law is not a substitute for putting your own wishes in writing today.

Blended families face the sharpest edges

Second marriages, stepchildren and blended households are now the norm for many UK families, yet intestacy law still assumes a simpler shape. Stepchildren who have not been legally adopted inherit nothing, no matter how close the relationship. A second spouse can also unintentionally become the sole beneficiary, leaving children from an earlier relationship with no claim at all once that spouse later passes on their own estate.

None of this reflects malice or unfairness on anyone's part. It's simply what happens when a general statutory formula is applied to a specific, personal family situation. A Will lets a person set out exactly how they want to provide for a spouse, children from different relationships, or a stepchild they consider their own.

Delay, cost and conflict for those left behind

Beyond who inherits, there is the practical burden of administering an estate without a Will. There is no executor appointed to act quickly, so someone must apply to the court for letters of administration before anything can be dealt with, a process that typically adds weeks or months compared with the swifter probate route available when a valid Will and named executor are in place.

Bank accounts stay frozen, property sales stall, and bills continue regardless. For families already managing funeral arrangements and their own grief, this administrative weight is often the part people remember most bitterly. It is also fertile ground for disputes: where there is no clear written instruction, disagreements between relatives about what the deceased "would have wanted" can escalate into contested, costly litigation.

Guardianship is left to chance

For parents of children under 18, a Will is the only formal mechanism to nominate a guardian. Without one, the courts decide who raises your children if both parents die, based on an assessment of the child's welfare rather than the parents' own wishes. Most parents are startled to learn this isn't automatically a grandparent or the person they would have chosen; it's a decision made by a judge, based on evidence presented at the time.

A Will is not just paperwork; it's protection

Every one of these pitfalls has the same solution: a clear, professionally drafted, properly witnessed Will. It costs far less, in money and in stress, than the alternative. It lets you choose your executors, provide for the people who actually depend on you, appoint a guardian for your children, and reduce the chances of your family facing conflict or delay on top of loss.

If you don't have a Will, or haven't reviewed one in the last few years, particularly after a marriage, divorce, house move or the arrival of children, now is the moment to put that right. Speak to our family law team, and we'll guide you through the process clearly, at a pace that works for you.