The rules at a glance
| Who survives you | Your spouse or civil partner receives | Everyone else |
|---|---|---|
| Spouse and one child | Personal belongings, the first £250,000, and one half of the remainder | Your child takes the other half |
| Spouse and two or more children | Personal belongings, the first £250,000, and one third of the remainder | Your children share the other two thirds equally |
| Spouse, no children, but parents survive | Personal belongings, the first £450,000, and one half of the remainder | Your parents take the other half |
| Spouse, no children, no parents, but siblings survive | Personal belongings, the first £450,000, and one half of the remainder | Your brothers and sisters share the other half |
| Spouse, and nobody else at all | The whole estate | — |
| Children, no spouse | — | Your children inherit everything in equal shares |
| No spouse and no children | — | Parents, then brothers and sisters, then more distant relatives — and if none can be traced, the Crown |
Your partner inherits nothing unless you are married or in a civil partnership. The intestacy rules make no provision at all for an unmarried partner — not the home, not savings, not a share — however long you have lived together and whether or not you have children together. They would have to apply to the court under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) (Northern Ireland) Order 1979, claiming against the relatives who do inherit.
Three ways Northern Ireland differs from England and Wales
This matters more than it sounds. A great deal of what is written online about “UK intestacy” is actually about England and Wales, and applying it here gives the wrong answer.
| Northern Ireland | England & Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| Statutory legacy (with children) | £250,000 | £322,000 |
| Spouse’s share of the remainder | One half with one child, one third with more | One half, however many children |
| Spouse where there are no children | Takes £450,000 and half the remainder; the rest to parents or siblings | Takes the whole estate |
The third row is the one that catches people. A married couple in Belfast with no children, each assuming the survivor would inherit everything, are wrong — and would be right if they lived in Birmingham.
What the rules cannot do at all
Even where the statutory order happens to match your wishes, it is silent on everything else:
- Guardians. If your children are under 18 and no one with parental responsibility survives you, the court decides who raises them. A Will is the only document in which you can name a guardian yourself.
- Who administers the estate. Intestacy applies a statutory order of entitlement to apply for a grant. A Will lets you appoint executors you trust.
- Gifts to anyone outside the list. A friend, a stepchild you never formally adopted, a charity, a neighbour who cared for you — all receive nothing on intestacy, whatever you said in life.
- Funeral wishes, and any instruction about what happens if you and your spouse die together.
How a Will replaces all of it
A Will executed correctly under Article 5 of the Wills and Administration Proceedings (Northern Ireland) Order 1994 displaces the statutory order entirely. The formalities are the same as in England and Wales: the Will must be in writing, signed by you, and your signature must be made or acknowledged in the presence of two witnesses who are both present at the same time, each of whom then signs in your presence.
Two practical points. A witness must not be a beneficiary, nor married to one — under Article 8 the gift to that person fails, though the Will itself stands. And a grant of probate is applied for at the Probate Office at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast, not through the courts service in England and Wales.
Decide it yourself, in about 15 minutes
A fixed-fee Will for Northern Ireland. Every Will is checked before it’s issued.
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If you are reading this because someone has died without a Will, the rules above decide who inherits — and a separate process decides who is allowed to administer the estate and what it costs to do so. Our guide to probate in Northern Ireland covers letters of administration, the statutory order of who may apply, and the court fees.
Sources
- Administration of Estates Act (Northern Ireland) 1955, section 7 — statutory legacies and the shares of the residue.
- Wills and Administration Proceedings (Northern Ireland) Order 1994, Article 5 — execution formalities.
- Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 — claims by dependants.
Frequently asked questions
What are the intestacy rules in Northern Ireland?
They are set by the Administration of Estates Act (Northern Ireland) 1955. If you leave a spouse or civil partner and children, your spouse receives your personal belongings, the first £250,000, and one half of the remainder if you leave one child or one third if you leave more than one; the children share the rest. If you leave a spouse and no children but your parents or brothers and sisters survive you, your spouse receives your belongings, the first £450,000 and one half of the remainder — the other half passes to those relatives. Only where none of them survive does your spouse inherit everything.
Does my husband or wife inherit everything in Northern Ireland?
Not necessarily, and this is the most common misunderstanding. In England and Wales a surviving spouse with no children inherits the whole estate. In Northern Ireland that is only true if you also leave no children, no parents and no brothers or sisters. Otherwise your spouse takes your belongings, £450,000 and half the remainder, and the other half goes to your parents, or to your siblings if your parents have died.
How much is the statutory legacy in Northern Ireland?
£250,000 where you leave children, and £450,000 where you leave no children but other close relatives survive you. Both figures are set by section 7 of the Administration of Estates Act (Northern Ireland) 1955. The equivalent figure in England and Wales is £322,000.
Do unmarried partners inherit under the intestacy rules in Northern Ireland?
No. The intestacy rules make no provision at all for an unmarried partner, however long you have lived together and whether or not you have children together. A surviving partner would have to apply to the court under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) (Northern Ireland) Order 1979, claiming against the people who do inherit.
Are the intestacy rules the same in Northern Ireland as in England and Wales?
No. Three things differ: the statutory legacy is £250,000 rather than £322,000; the spouse’s share of the remainder is one half with one child but only one third with more than one, where England and Wales gives one half regardless; and a spouse with no children does not automatically inherit everything. A Will written for England and Wales is not a Will for Northern Ireland.
How do I avoid the intestacy rules in Northern Ireland?
Make a valid Will. Executed correctly under Article 5 of the Wills and Administration Proceedings (Northern Ireland) Order 1994 — in writing, signed by you in the presence of two witnesses who are both there at the same time — a Will replaces the statutory order entirely with your own instructions.
Do unmarried partners inherit?
No. The rules make no provision for an unmarried partner at all. A surviving partner would have to claim through the court under the 1979 Order.
Is a Will written for England and Wales valid in Northern Ireland?
The execution formalities are the same, so a properly signed and witnessed Will is unlikely to fail for want of form. The problem is its content: it will cite the wrong statutes, and any assumption it makes about intestacy, trustee powers or family provision is drawn from a different legal system. If you live in Northern Ireland, have a Will written for Northern Ireland.