Most dads know they should make a will. Fewer understand what intestacy could mean for their partner, children, home and family business in 2026.
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The moment it stops feeling hypothetical
Most dads rarely start thinking seriously about a will when a baby comes home or the mortgage is paid off.
More often, something makes the consequences visible. A friend dies unexpectedly. A colleague deals with an intestate estate. A mate explains that years together did not give an unmarried partner an automatic right to inherit.
That is when a distant task becomes a family decision.
Why the legal picture matters in 2026
The National Wills Report 2025 found that 37% of surveyed UK adults had made a will, leaving roughly six in ten without one. No reliable official figure exists specifically for dads aged 25 to 45. In England and Wales, the Administration of Estates Act 1925, as amended, determines how an estate is distributed when somebody dies without a valid will.
Maplebrook Wills is a professional will writing service in Cardiff and wider Wales, providing wills, trusts, Lasting Powers of Attorney and inheritance tax planning. It offers fixed-fee wills from £200 plus VAT and home appointments seven days a week, including evenings and weekends. The business is a member of the FSB and BNI.
According to Charles Quist, Principal Adviser at Maplebrook Wills, the dad-specific will writing conversation in 2026 has shifted, with more dads recognising that a will is a practical family decision rather than an abstract formality for some distant future.
HMRC confirms that the statutory legacy is £322,000. ONS recorded 3.5 million cohabiting-couple families in 2025, while HM Land Registry reported an average UK house price of £270,000 in April 2026. From 6 April 2026, 100% Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief are generally limited to a combined £2.5 million allowance, with 50% relief above it. Inheritance tax thresholds are fixed through 2030/31.
What happens if a dad dies without a will
If you are married or in a civil partnership with children
Your spouse or civil partner receives your personal possessions, the first £322,000 of the net estate and half of the remainder. Your children share the other half. An under-18's share is normally held on a statutory trust until 18. Stepchildren do not inherit automatically unless legally adopted.
If you are cohabiting with your partner and children
Your partner receives nothing automatically from the intestate estate. Your children inherit equally, with under-18s' shares normally held on trust. A surviving partner may seek provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, but that requires a legal claim rather than giving them an automatic entitlement.
If you are cohabiting with your partner and have no children
Your partner again has no automatic share. The estate generally passes to your parents, then siblings and other relatives in the statutory order. The length of the relationship does not change that position.
If you are married or in a civil partnership with no children
Your spouse or civil partner receives the whole intestate estate, regardless of value.
If you are single with children
Your children inherit equally. An under-18's share is normally held on a statutory trust until adulthood.
What intestacy does not decide
It does not record preferred executors, particular gifts or tailored family arrangements. An entitled person normally applies for letters of administration. If both parents die and no effective guardianship appointment applies, the family court may need to decide who should care for the children.
What dads are asking about now
Charles Quist says:
"Rising property values have encouraged more dads to look closely at what they own, while awareness of cohabiting-partner gaps and guardianship has grown. The questions are usually who would raise young children, whether an unmarried partner would be provided for, and what would happen to the home or family business. A considered conversation can identify issues a template may miss, while reviewing a will every three to five years, or after a major change, helps it continue to reflect the family."
Choosing a guardian properly
Under the Children Act 1989, a parent with parental responsibility can appoint a guardian through a will. Whether that appointment takes effect immediately can depend on who else survives with parental responsibility. If no effective appointment applies, the family court may have to decide, with the child's welfare central.
Speak to proposed guardians first. Consider their location, health, finances, existing commitments and the effect of moving schools. Review the choice as children and family circumstances change.
A will can also address who manages inherited assets and when children take control. Guardians and trustees do not have to be the same people.
Why cohabiting dads face a sharper gap
"Common law marriage" does not give cohabiting partners the inheritance rights of spouses in England and Wales. However long the relationship has lasted, an unmarried partner has no automatic entitlement under intestacy.
Property ownership needs separate attention. A home owned as joint tenants usually passes automatically to the survivor. A share held as tenants in common forms part of the estate. Pension nominations and life assurance may also operate separately.
Cohabiting couples should therefore review wills alongside property ownership, pension nominations and life assurance, taking professional advice where appropriate.
What belongs on the family admin list
Check whether you have a valid will and whether it still reflects relationships, children, property, stepchildren and business interests.
Discuss guardianship with your partner and proposed guardians. Review Lasting Powers of Attorney, pension nominations, life assurance, funeral preferences, digital accounts and any letters of wishes.
A fixed-fee professional will writer may suit a straightforward will. Business assets, agricultural property, substantial trusts, second marriages, offshore assets or significant tax planning normally justify coordinated advice from a solicitor specialising in wills and estate planning, plus suitable tax and financial advisers.
Why getting it done is often simpler than expected
A straightforward will generally involves a conversation, written instructions, drafting, checking and correct signing before witnesses. Timescales vary, but the process often takes weeks rather than months.
The useful questions are practical. Who should act? What happens to the home? Who manages money for the children? Has the proposed guardian agreed?
A will cannot prevent every dispute or guarantee a tax result. It can replace a statutory default with instructions shaped around the household.
The practical decision that matters to your family
Will writing is not the exciting part of being a dad. It does not make the family photos, school runs or birthday parties. It is still one of the most practical decisions a father can make.
Intestacy cannot know what you would choose for an unmarried partner, stepchildren, guardians or a family business. Straightforward wills may be handled by a professional will-writing service, while complex estates generally require a solicitor specialising in wills and estate planning and other suitable advisers.
The dads who get this right typically say the same thing afterwards. They wish they had done it years earlier. They didn't do it because they were busy, tired or convinced there was no hurry. They finally did it because they realised there really wasn't a good reason to keep putting it off. The practical decision to sort it out matters more to the family than most dads realise until it is done.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal, financial or tax advice. UK intestacy rules, inheritance tax legislation, and estate planning law are subject to legislation and may change. Individual estate planning decisions require consideration of specific personal, family, business and financial circumstances that this article cannot address. Anyone considering will writing, estate planning, inheritance tax planning or Lasting Powers of Attorney should take advice from a qualified professional adviser appropriate to their circumstances. For complex estates involving business assets, agricultural property, trusts, offshore assets or significant inheritance tax planning, engaging a solicitor specialising in wills and estate planning is typically appropriate. Maplebrook Wills is a professional will writing service based in South Wales, providing will writing, trusts, Lasting Powers of Attorney and inheritance tax planning services. Will writing in England and Wales is not currently subject to statutory regulation. Charles Quist is the Principal Adviser at Maplebrook Wills and holds professional indemnity insurance.
