Martin Lewis, the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, has issued a "crucially important" warning to couples who are living together but aren't married.
He used his ITV show, Martin Lewis Money Show Live, to discuss some "unpleasant" money issues that people often don't enjoy discussing. These include what happens to your assets when you die, the Mirror reports.
He explained: "A special point to anyone who is cohabiting โ you're not married and you're not a civil partner. If you've been living together for 30 years and you've got nine children, it still means nothing in law, when it comes to a will.
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"Your partner wouldn't get anything under the intestacy rules which dictate what happens when you die without a will. A will is crucially important to you."
If someone dies without a will, their estate is shared out according to intestacy rules. Only married or civil partners and some other close relatives can inherit under these regulations. If you live in England and Wales and you are married or in a civil partnership, your spouse would automatically inherit the first ยฃ322,000 of your estate.
If your estate is worth more than ยฃ322,000 and you have kids or grandkids, your spouse will get half of the remaining assets. The other half are split equally among your children and grandchildren.
The rules are different in Scotland and Northern Ireland. If you make a legal will, you can decide exactly who and how much of your assets go to who after you have passed.
Martin recommended getting a gold standard solicitor-drafted will โ and there are ways to cut the cost of this. Free Wills Month takes place every March and October for those aged 55 and over.
The service is free, on the hope that you will leave something to charity โ the typical donating is around ยฃ300 to ยฃ500, but it is up to you. Hundreds of solicitor firms across the UK normally take part, though different areas participate in different months.
Or Will Aid, which runs annually in November with supporting charities โ ActionAid, Age UK, British Red Cross, Christian Aid, NSPCC, Save the Children, SCIAF, Sightsavers and Trocaire โ can also be useful. The suggested donations are ยฃ100 for a single will or ยฃ180 for a pair of basic "mirror wills".
Input your postcode here to see the full list of participating areas.
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