What happens to potential beneficiaries when someone remarries?

 A will is arguably the most basic – and obvious – of planning tools. Making a will is the most effective method of protecting your assets upon death.

If you die intestate, you are exposing your estate and beneficiaries to all manner of risks. Your assets will be subject to the intestacy rules, meaning they will be transferred by a mechanical set of rules that are potentially not in line with your actual wishes. This may result in a contentious probate scenario following your death. Not a good result.

In Northern Ireland, the order of inheritance is as follows:

1. Children or direct descendants. If you have children, the estate will be split equally between them. If one of the children has died before them, their children (the grandchildren) can inherit their share. The same goes for great-grandchildren, and so on.

2. Parents. If there are no children or other direct descendants to inherit, your estate will pass to your parents.

3. Brothers and sisters, or their children. Siblings come after parents in the Northern Irish rules of intestacy. If one of the brothers or sisters has died first, their kids (the nieces and nephews of the person who has just died) can inherit their share.

4. Grandparents. If the deceased has none of the relatives listed above, the estate can be split equally between their living grandparents.

5. Aunts and uncles. Failing that, your estate will fall to any aunts and uncles. As with siblings, if one of the aunts or uncles has died already, their kids (the deceased’s cousins) can inherit their share.

6. The Crown. If no other relatives can be found, your estate will be claimed by the Crown.

This brief video shows what can happen if a will is not updated when your circumstances change.