No Will means you will be Intestate
If you die and you have not made a Will you are said to have died intestate. Intestacy also follows if you have made a Will but it has not been attested (signed) correctly, which is a particular concern with DIY wills, or you have married since making the Will without a contemplation of marriage clause.

And to complete the picture if you have made a valid Will and it can’t be found or it has been destroyed, e.g. in a fire, you would be intestate just the same.

So, the most accurate description of intestacy is having no valid Will to found an application for probate. When the testator (the person who has made the Will) dies the procedure is that the Will is sent to the Probate Registry along with the death certificate and appropriate forms. No Will or an invalid Will mean intestacy is inevitable.

There is a clear set of rules of distribution of the intestate estate that depends on the value of the estate and the makeup of the deceased’s living relatives.
The provisions that concern most people relate to distribution to spouse partner and/or children.

First thing to note is that an unmarried partner is not able to inherit under the rules of intestacy. So what some people call a common law wife is not recognised in English law.
Lesbian or gay partners not in a civil partnership, any relations by marriage e.g. step-children or step-parents, friends and charities cannot inherit under the intestacy rules either.

When married with children

The surviving husband, wife or civil partner receives the chattels (i.e. the personal possessions), a legacy of £250,000 and a life interest in half of the remainder of the estate “the residue”.
The children receive the other half of the residue in equal shares. If any of the deceased’s children have died but had children themselves then those children (i.e. the deceased’s grandchildren) will receive their parents’ share under the legal rule called ‘per stirpes’ and again that would be in equal shares.

If the estate is less than £250, 000 the deceased’s surviving husband, wife or civil partner will receive the whole of the estate.

When married without children

The surviving husband, wife or civil partner receives the chattels, a legacy of £450,000 and a life interest in half of the remainder of the estate “the residue”.

The other half of the residue will be inherited by given extended family members e.g. siblings, in a specified way depending on the then current family makeup.

Children with no spouse or surviving spouse.

The children inherit all the estate in equal shares. NB. This could be the situation if a husband and wife were killed together in an accident.

There can be unintended and even unpleasant consequences of dying intestate with a typical example being the forced sale of the family home when the children inherit and there is inheritance tax to pay. It may be the only way the surviving spouse can pay his or her share of the tax due.

But whatever your situation dying without a Will can give rise to serious problems for those you care most about.