SQE1 intestacy rules: what you must know and how it is tested

SQE1 intestacy rules questions test who inherits when there is no valid will, in what order, and in what shares. The order of entitlement is fixed by the Administration of Estates Act 1925, and unmarried partners are not on it. Read it with the wider Wills and Administration of Estates guide.

The rules to apply

Intestacy applies to the whole estate, or to the part not disposed of by a valid will (partial intestacy). The surviving spouse or civil partner must survive the deceased by 28 days. Divorced spouses and cohabitants are not entitled.

If there is a spouse and issue (children and descendants), the spouse takes the personal chattels, a statutory legacy (a fixed net sum, £322,000 for deaths on or after 26 July 2023, and a question will normally supply it) and half of the remaining residue absolutely. The issue take the other half on statutory trusts. If there is a spouse but no issue, the spouse takes the whole estate, even if the deceased's parents or siblings are alive.

If there is no spouse, the estate passes to the first of these groups that has a member alive: issue; parents; brothers and sisters of the whole blood and their issue; half blood siblings and their issue; grandparents; uncles and aunts of the whole blood and their issue; half blood uncles and aunts and their issue. If none, the Crown takes as bona vacantia. A class takes in equal shares. Among issue, siblings, and uncles and aunts, a member who died before the deceased is replaced by their own issue (per stirpes).

The statutory trusts for issue give each child an interest that vests when the child reaches 18 or marries or forms a civil partnership earlier. Adopted children count as issue; stepchildren do not. A person who is left out may claim reasonable financial provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 if they fall within the categories, for example a cohabitant who lived with the deceased for the two years before death. A grant of letters of administration is needed, and priority goes first to the surviving spouse, then to the issue.

Traps examiners use

• Giving the unmarried partner a share. There is no intestacy right.
• Giving the spouse everything when there are issue. With no issue, the spouse does take everything, even if parents are alive.
• Forgetting that issue take at 18 or on earlier marriage.
• Treating stepchildren as issue.
• Passing to siblings when a parent is alive. Parents come first.
• Forgetting the 28 day survival rule.

Worked question 1

Leonora dies intestate, married to Piers, with two adult children. The personal chattels are given to Piers. The rest of the estate is £600,000. Assume the statutory legacy is £322,000. What does Piers take from the £600,000 and what do the children take?

• A. Piers £600,000; children nothing.
• B. Piers £300,000; children £300,000.
• C. Piers £461,000; children £139,000 between them.
• D. Piers £322,000; children £278,000.
• E. Piers £139,000; children £461,000.

Answer: C. With a spouse and issue, the spouse takes the £322,000 legacy and half of the remaining £278,000, which is £139,000. The total is £461,000. The children take the other half of residue, £139,000, in equal shares on the statutory trusts. A applies the rule where there is no issue, and B ignores the legacy.

Worked question 2

Jon dies intestate. He lived for twelve years with his partner Mira but they never married. He has no children. His mother and father are alive and he has one sister. Who inherits?

• A. Mira, because they lived together for twelve years.
• B. His sister, as the nearest sibling.
• C. His parents equally, because there is no spouse or issue and parents come next.
• D. His parents and sister equally.
• E. The Crown.

Answer: C. There is no spouse or issue, so the parents take in equal shares. The sister takes nothing while a parent is alive. Mira has no intestacy entitlement, but as a cohabitant of at least two years she may claim reasonable provision under the 1975 Act.

Checklist before you move on

• Valid will, partial or total intestacy?
• Spouse who survived 28 days?
• Issue: statutory trusts, vesting at 18 or marriage.
• No issue: parents, then siblings of whole blood, and so on.
• Who takes if no spouse: first class with a member alive.
• Possible claim under the 1975 Act.

Test yourself on more original questions in our SQE1 practice questions.

Questions

Related

• SQE1 Wills and Administration of Estates
• SQE1 practice questions: how to answer single best answer items
• SQE1 mock: how to time, pace and review it

Sources: SRA: SQE1 Assessment Specification (from 1 September 2026); Administration of Estates Act 1925; GOV.UK: Intestacy rules. Checked 10 November 2026.