Categories: intestacy

A High Court judge has ruled that the will of an 80-year-old woman, which left her inheritance to her closest friends, is invalid. Find out why and what this means for her estate.

Although we are free to make a will so that, when we die, we can leave our assets to whoever we like, we are also free to die without having made a will – or intestate – so that the state decides how our estate will be divided up. Either way, if we leave behind people who need and could reasonably expect financial help from our estate, the law can step in to make sure they get it.