Increase in Statutory Legacy 2023

Where a person dies without a Will leaving both a surviving spouse or civil partner and children, the intestacy rules give the survivor a fixed first share of the estate known as the statutory legacy.

By The Administration of Estates Act 1925 (Fixed Net Sum) Order 2023, that figure rose from £270,000 to £322,000 for deaths on or after 26 July 2023, and it remains the governing figure today. The rules then operate with arithmetic simplicity: the spouse or civil partner takes the personal possessions and the first £322,000, and whatever remains is divided equally between the spouse or civil partner on one side and the children on the other.

A formula of this kind suits some families and quietly disserves others. It takes no account of second marriages, stepchildren, unmarried partners or the particular shape of your affairs, and it asks no questions about what you would actually have wanted. The surest way to displace it is to make a Will, and to review that Will as your circumstances change.

About the author: Dr Aamir Nawaz, LLB (Hons), LLM, PhD, Solicitor, Barrister (np) and Notary Public.