What happens when a will disposes of only part of the estate — the gap the intestacy rules step in to fill.
A valid will is no guarantee that every asset finds a home, and the undisposed remainder falls to be distributed as if there were no will at all. This chapter begins with what partial intestacy is and why it arises, then examines the ways gifts fail — lapse, disclaimer and ademption — and the rescue offered by the anti-lapse provision in s 33 Wills Act 1837, including the conditions for it to bite and where the saved gift goes. It then works through how the intestate portion is distributed, from the entitlement of a surviving spouse or civil partner and the statutory legacy to the order of relatives who take in their absence. Finally, it covers the statutory trusts under s 47(1) AEA 1925, per stirpes distribution and the contingency an issue beneficiary must satisfy.
