Farra is a death administration assistant for UK families. Get step-by-step guidance for registering a death, applying for probate, notifying banks, and managing bereavement admin. From essential documents to practical checklists, Farra simplifies estate paperwork and funeral-related tasks so you can focus on what matters.
Northern Ireland has its own intestacy rules. Where there are children, the surviving spouse takes the personal chattels, a fixed net sum of £250,000 and a share of what remains; where there are no children the fixed sum is £450,000. Children share equally in the rest. Unlike Scotland, there are no prior rights or legitim. Letters of Administration are required from the Belfast Probate Office.
When a person dies without a valid will in Northern Ireland, their estate is distributed according to the intestacy rules set out in Part II of the Administration of Estates Act (Northern Ireland) 1955. These rules follow a similar shape to the England and Wales rules, but they are separate law: the fixed sums, the spouse's share of the residue and the order of more distant relatives are all different, and the England and Wales statutory legacy of £322,000 has no application in Northern Ireland.
This is in contrast to Scotland, which has entirely different succession rules based on prior rights, legal rights (legitim and ius relictae), and the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964. For Scottish intestacy rules, see our guide on intestacy in Scotland.
For Northern Ireland, the key principle is that the estate is distributed in order of priority — certain relatives take first, then others if those closer relatives are not surviving.
Where the deceased left a surviving spouse or civil partner and children (or grandchildren if a child has predeceased):
If what is left after the personal chattels is worth £250,000 or less, the surviving spouse takes the whole of it and the children receive nothing. These figures are set by order — the current ones have applied to deaths since 1 January 2008 (Administration of Estates (Rights of Surviving Spouse or Civil Partner) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007).
Where the deceased left a surviving spouse or civil partner but no children:
Where the deceased left no surviving spouse or civil partner but left children:
Where there is no surviving spouse and no children (or all children have predeceased without leaving children of their own), the estate passes in the following order:
One of the most important aspects of Northern Ireland's intestacy rules (as in England and Wales) is that unmarried cohabiting partners have no automatic right to inherit under the intestacy rules — regardless of how long they have lived together.
If an unmarried partner dies intestate, the surviving cohabitee will receive nothing under the intestacy rules. The estate will pass to the deceased's children, parents, or other relatives depending on the circumstances. A will is the only way an unmarried partner inherits as of right; the alternative, after a death, is a court claim under the 1979 Order described below.
Northern Ireland does, however, have an equivalent of the England and Wales 1975 Act: the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) (Northern Ireland) Order 1979. Since the Succession (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, its list of people who may apply expressly includes someone who lived in the same household as the deceased, as their husband, wife or civil partner, for the whole of the two years before the death. Someone who was being maintained by the deceased may also apply. A claim is for reasonable financial provision from the estate; it is not an entitlement, and the court decides.
When the deceased died without a will in Northern Ireland, no one automatically has the authority to deal with the estate. The nearest entitled relative must apply to the Probate and Matrimonial Office in Belfast for Letters of Administration.
The priority order for who may apply for Letters of Administration mirrors the intestacy priority — the surviving spouse has the first right to apply, then children, then other relatives.
For the full application process, see our guide on how to apply for probate in Northern Ireland. For an overview of the Northern Irish probate system, see our guide on probate in Northern Ireland.
Inheritance tax applies to intestate estates in Northern Ireland in exactly the same way as in England and Wales and Scotland. The fact that there is no will does not alter the IHT position — the estate is still valued, IHT is still calculated, and any IHT due must be paid before Letters of Administration are granted.
Where the estate passes entirely to the surviving spouse, the spouse exemption means no IHT is due (provided the spouse is domiciled in the UK). For more detail, see our UK inheritance tax guide for 2026–27.
The intestacy rules are a "default" position — they apply only when there is no will or when the will does not cover certain assets. Making a will allows you to: