I'm married with no children — doesn't my spouse get everything anyway?

Yes — under the intestacy rules, where there are no children the surviving spouse or civil partner inherits the whole estate. So why make a will? Because it also names your executors, covers the possibility that you die together, adds backstop beneficiaries, and lets you make gifts to friends, family and causes beyond the default.

Can I leave money to friends?

Absolutely. A will has no family requirement — you can leave specific sums or possessions to friends, godchildren, neighbours, carers, or anyone else. Without a will, not one of them would receive a penny, however close you were.

What happens to my pets?

Legally, pets are property, so you can't leave money directly to them — but you can and should name who takes them, and leave that person a cash gift to cover the costs. Without a will, nobody is obliged to take them on, and beloved animals can end up in rehoming centres.

Can I leave everything to charity?

Yes — your whole estate, a percentage of it, or a fixed sum. Gifts to UK-registered charities are also exempt from inheritance tax. Our guide to leaving money to charity in your will covers wording, finding registered numbers, and how to do it so the gift can't fail.

What if I die with no will and no family at all?

The estate eventually passes to the Crown as bona vacantia — 'ownerless goods'. The Treasury has a list you can check for distant relatives' estates, but from your side of the equation the point is simpler: everything you built goes to the state rather than the people and causes you actually cared about.

Making a Will When You Have No Children

Making a will when you don't have children

Quick answer

If you don't have children, it's easy to assume a will matters less — actually the opposite is true. Without one, everything you own climbs a fixed family ladder that skips friends, unmarried partners, stepchildren and charities entirely. A will is the only way to choose.

Who actually inherits if you don't make a will

Without a will, the intestacy rules hand your estate out along a rigid family ladder, and the law asks no questions about who you were close to:

Married or in a civil partnership, no children: your spouse inherits everything.
No spouse: your parents inherit, equally.
No living parents: your siblings (whole blood first), then their children — your nieces and nephews.
Failing those: half-siblings, then grandparents, then aunts and uncles, then their children.
Nobody left: everything passes to the Crown.

Note what is missing from that ladder: anyone you actually chose.

Who gets nothing by default

However central they were to your life, the following inherit nothingunder intestacy: an unmarried partner (however long you've been together), stepchildren you helped raise (unless you formally adopted them), your closest friends, godchildren, carers, and every charity you ever supported. If you want any of them remembered, a will is the only mechanism that does it.

What a will lets you do instead

Choose your beneficiaries — partner, friends, nieces and nephews, charities — in whatever proportions feel right, using specific gifts and percentage shares of what's left.
Support causes you love — gifts to UK-registered charities are inheritance-tax-free; see leaving money to charity in your will.
Provide for your pets — name who takes them and leave that person a gift for their care.
Name your executors — the people who actually sort everything out — and add backstop beneficiaries in case your first choices die before you.

When you need a solicitor instead

We are will writers, not a law firm — so take this as the honest version. An online will fits most childfree people, but see a solicitor if:

your estate is comfortably above the £325,000 nil-rate band — note that the extra £175,000 residence nil-rate band only applies to homes left to direct descendants, so estates without children often can't use it and the 40% rate bites earlier than people assume;
you want to provide for a vulnerable or dependent beneficiary through a trust;
you have business interests, overseas assets, or expect your will to be challenged by relatives cut out of it.

Do I need a solicitor for a will? sets out where the boundary lies.

How to get it done

If your wishes are straightforward, start your will here — about 15 minutes of plain-English questions, instant download, £35 one-time with free updates for life and no upsells, so new friends, new charities and new pets can be added whenever life changes. Then print it and sign in wet ink before two witnesses together, as s.9 of the Wills Act 1837 requires. Until you do, the flowchart above is your estate plan — like it or not.