The common myth over unmarried people living without a will – and why it could be costly
If you live with your spouse, you can assume that your assets will automatically pass to them if you die. But think again.
Under intestacy laws, cohabitants have no right to inherit, and upcoming inheritance tax (IHT) changes could see bereaved families facing even bigger bills.
A survey by national will-writing campaign Will Aid has found that most cohabiting couples are unaware of inheritance rules and many are at risk of being excluded from their partner’s inheritance altogether.
A will is a legal document that specifies how a person’s property, money, and belongings should be distributed after their death.
If you die without a valid will, this is called “dying intestate.” Once this happens, your assets will be distributed according to the “rules of intestacy.”
What are the will rules?
Will Aid research found 68 per cent of cohabitants do not understand the rules of wills. According to these rules, unmarried partners do not automatically have the right to inherit (even if they have lived as a couple for years or have children together).
The survey found that 25 per cent of cohabitors mistakenly believed their assets would automatically pass to their partner when they died, with 17 per cent admitting they had never thought about it.
Touch Solicitors lawyer Trusha Velji warned: “Many people automatically assume that after living together for a while they become husband and wife, but this is not the case.
“The concept of ‘common law marriage’ ceased to exist a long time ago.”
Who will inherit?
If you die without making a will and you are not married or in a civil partnership, any children you have will inherit everything.
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If you are not married and have no children, your inheritance usually passes to your parents or siblings. It passes to your siblings’ children if they die.
These rules mean that unmarried or cohabiting spouses must make a will if they want their spouse to inherit from them.
“If you live together as a couple, even if you have children together and have been living together for many years, the law does not recognize you as a spouse,” says Velji. “So if you do not have a will, the rules of intestacy will apply and your partner will be completely ignored.”
What is the IHT spousal exemption?
Those living together should also consider their tax situation when planning for the future. Leaving assets to an unmarried partner in your will does not mean they will benefit from the same IHT exemptions that married couples enjoy.
The IHT threshold (also known as the nil rate band) is the amount of property you can transfer before IHT is charged. The standard IHT threshold is £325,000 per person (for the 2025/26 tax year). Properties above this amount are taxed at 40 percent on the portion exceeding the threshold.
Assets left to a spouse or civil partner are generally exempt from IHT and any unused part of the thresholds can be transferred to the surviving partner, effectively doubling the threshold for a couple to £650,000.
If the family home is left to direct descendants (such as children or grandchildren), there is an additional threshold of up to £175,000 per person, bringing the potential total to £500,000 per person (£1 million per couple).
However, unlike married couples or civil partnerships, cohabitants do not benefit from the IHT spousal exemption. This means that any inheritance left to them may be subject to IHT if the estate exceeds the tax-free threshold.
New pension IHT rules
The financial risk of cohabitation is predicted to increase from April 2027. Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in the Autumn Budget that the rules around pensions and IHT will change from this date.
Currently, defined contribution pensions, where you save some money to provide you with income when you retire, do not normally form part of your estate and are therefore not subject to IHT. However, from April 2027, pension savings will be included in a person’s estate for IHT purposes.
Calculations from asset manager Quilter show that if a legally single homeowner of working age with an average-priced house in England (£290,395) and a pension of £415,000 died, their beneficiaries would pay £82,158 in IHT from 2027. Under current rules, they won’t pay anything.
Most couples living together own property jointly as tenants in common. In this case, only half of the value of the property will be included in the property. Even then the family in the example above would face an IHT bill of £24,079.
Jon Greer, head of pensions policy at Quilter, said: “Charging inheritance tax on a pension that someone has not accessed is a no-brainer for the government. It is even more unfair for cohabiting families who do not have a spousal benefit or transferable allowance. Policymakers should consider deductions or temporary benefits for working-age deaths, particularly where young children are involved. Without change, this policy risks increasing the emotional burden.” Death by financial blow.
How to write a will
You can write a will through a lawyer or an online will writing service.
Alternatively, Will Aid is an annual fundraising campaign in which participating solicitors offer to write a basic will in exchange for a voluntary donation to one of the campaign’s eight partner charities, including Age UK, NSPCC, Shelter and Crisis.
Will Aid campaign director Peter de Vena Franks said: “This is a chance for unmarried and cohabiting couples to make sure their wishes are clearly documented. Without a will, surviving partners are left vulnerable. Will Aid provides peace of mind that their loved ones are protected.”
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