Modern inheritance

Unmarried couples would inherit their partner’s estate where no will has been drawn up, under reforms proposed by the Law Commission.

Tens of thousands of people die without a will each year. Currently, where their partner dies intestate, the surviving partner must go to court in order to claim their share. A Law Commission report published this week, however, recommends that cohabitants inherit where the couple has lived together for five years, or for two years and have children together.

The report, Intestacy and Family Provision Claims on Death, aims to update the law on the entitlement of spouses and others.

It recommends thatwhere the deceased has no children, their spouse should inherit the whole estate—currently, parents and siblings are also entitled to a share. The system of “life interest” trust arrangements, where the deceased has children, should be simplified. Adoption should not prevent orphaned children from claiming their inheritance.

Professor Elizabeth Cooke, the law commissioner who led the project, says: “It is important to have clear, modern and fair rules for dealing with the property of a person who has died.”