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No — not automatically. Under the rules of intestacy in England and Wales, an unmarried partner has no legal right to inherit anything from their partner's estate, regardless of how long they were together. This is one of the most significant legal gaps faced by cohabiting couples — and it can have devastating consequences if the surviving partner is not aware of it. This guide explains exactly what the rules mean and what options are available to you.
Someone dies intestate when they die without a valid will, or when their will does not cover all of their estate. In that situation, the distribution of the estate is governed by the rules of intestacy — set out in the Administration of Estates Act 1925, updated most recently by the Inheritance and Trustees' Powers Act 2014.
These rules set out a strict order of who inherits, based purely on legal relationship — not on the nature of the personal relationship, how long a couple lived together, or any informal arrangements.
The intestacy rules follow a fixed order of priority:
| Priority | Who inherits | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Spouse or civil partner | All personal belongings, plus £322,000 (the statutory legacy), plus half of any remainder. Children receive the other half. |
| 2nd | Children (if no spouse) | The entire estate, split equally |
| 3rd | Parents | Entire estate if no spouse or children survive |
| 4th | Siblings | As above, further down the priority order |
| — | Unmarried partner | Nothing. Unmarried partners do not appear in the intestacy order at any point. |
If there is no spouse and no children, the estate passes to the deceased's parents. If the parents have died, it goes to whole-blood brothers and sisters (with nieces and nephews taking a deceased sibling's share), then half-siblings, then grandparents, then aunts and uncles — all before any unmarried partner. If nobody in that list survives, the estate goes to the Crown, still ahead of the partner.
This is perhaps the most important point for cohabiting couples to understand: the length of the relationship is legally irrelevant under the intestacy rules. Whether you had been together for 2 years or 30 years makes no difference to your legal entitlement under intestacy.
There is no such thing as a “common law marriage” in England and Wales. This term has no legal status. A long-term cohabiting partner has no more automatic legal right to inherit than a stranger.
Even if you share a home: if the property was in your partner's sole name, it forms part of the estate and passes under the intestacy rules — potentially to relatives who are legally entitled to it. You could lose the right to live in your home.
On 5 June 2026 the Ministry of Justice opened a consultation, A fairer end to relationships, which closed on 14 August 2026. For England and Wales it asked whether “qualifying cohabitants” — couples who have lived together for at least three years, or who share a child — should inherit automatically when a partner dies without a valid will; whether the two-year qualifying period for an Inheritance Act 1975 claim should be removed where the couple had children together; and whether a qualifying cohabitant's right to administer the estate should match any new entitlement.
It is a consultation, not a law. No share of the estate has been fixed, no Bill has been published, and the government has said only that legislation will follow “when parliamentary time allows”. As of September 2026 the rules on this page apply unchanged. Joint assets, pension nominations and life insurance in trust still pass outside the intestacy rules; a will remains the reliable way to change who inherits the rest.
If your partner died without a will, there are several things to do immediately:
Unmarried partners who lived with the deceased as a couple for at least 2 years immediately before the death can apply to a court for “reasonable financial provision” from the estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. Someone who does not meet the two-year test but was being maintained by the deceased immediately before the death has a separate route into the same Act.
This is not an automatic right — it is a court application, and the court has discretion over whether to make an order and how much to award. The court will consider:
Key time limit: the claim must normally be brought within 6 months of the grant of probate or letters of administration being issued. The court can allow late claims in exceptional circumstances, but this is not guaranteed. Act without delay.
For more on this, see our guide on contentious probate and on the intestacy rules in England and Wales.
Your children will inherit under the intestacy rules — children are the second priority group after a spouse or civil partner. If the deceased had no spouse or civil partner, the children inherit the entire estate, split equally.
However, as the surviving parent, you do not automatically inherit anything. You may be living with children who have inherited assets you need access to — for example, a half-share of the family home. This can create extremely difficult practical situations.
If children are under 18, their share of the estate will be held on the statutory trusts until they reach 18, or marry or form a civil partnership before then. A minor cannot take a grant, so a grant is made for their use and benefit — normally to a parent or guardian with parental responsibility, applying to the Probate Registry. Where a beneficiary is a minor, section 114(2) of the Senior Courts Act 1981 means the grant is normally made to at least two individuals or a trust corporation.
If you are in a relationship but not married, the single most important step you can take is to make a will — and to encourage your partner to do the same. A valid will overrides the intestacy rules entirely. You can leave your entire estate to your partner regardless of marital status.
You should also consider:
Sorting out an intestate estate is one of the hardest situations.
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