Uncertainty surrounding cohabitees and Wills

How do you own your home? This is as important after death as it is in life. A survey published in 2025 by Will Aid showed that 17% of people had never considered what would happen in the event they died without making a Will and roughly 25% believe their estate would automatically pass to their partner, with 7% were under the impression their estate would pass to close friends.

With one in four people stating they do not know how to make a Will; it follows that a lack of public awareness around Wills and Will making can be a barrier to ensuring stability for their families.

One of the major issues surrounding Wills and the laws of intestacy (which govern how the estate should be distributed if a person dies without a Will) are cohabitees. Your estate will not pass down to your partner unless you are married, in a civil partnership, or write a Will which gives provisions for the estate to pass to them. This is important as the number of cohabitees is increasing as the number of marriages has been steadily falling for many years.

People may feel happy and secure under their partnerships but there is always the unfortunate possibility that one or other partner may die unexpectedly. In this scenario, cohabitees consume a huge loss not only emotionally, but also financially, especially if one is dependent on another.

Intestacy Rules

If you die without a Will, your estate automatically passes to your spouse (even if you are separated) or your family.

Purpose of Wills

The purpose of a Will is not just to ensure your estate passes to the people you want it to, but it can be a way to ensure people receive gifts that you want them to, such as photographs, mobile phones, heirlooms and so on.

Homemade Wills

People may choose to write their Will themselves, however, this can cause issues down the line, including missing out on valuable advice such as tax relief or ways to try to negate potential disputes arising from the Will. Unfortunately, many homemade Wills are disputed and this can cause frictionbetween family members which, at worst, will need to be resolved through the courts and may cause long-term disagreements. This is not only difficult for your family but may impact how your wishes under the Will are followed. Homemade Wills can create numerous problems such as not being valid or can end up lost if not stored securely such as at a solicitor’s firm. Furthermore, if your Will becomes ‘contentious’ (in other words it is the subject of a legal dispute), you may find that legal fees are taken out of your estate, leaving your beneficiaries with less than what they would have been entitled to if no issues arose. This stresses the importance of having a valid Will which maximises your gifts to any beneficiaries.

If you would like individual advice on making or updating your Will, please contact a member of our Private Client team.