Do you have a Will? If you die without one, your estate may not be distributed in the way you would have intended, and it might cause real problems for your family. The issue is of particular concern to buy-to-let investors, who own flats and houses in addition to their family home.
If you do not have a Will in Scotland, your estate is divided according to the rules of intestacy.
After your spouse (probably) gets the family home any other houses and land you own (including your buy-to-let properties), and all the cash remaining may go to relatives (Laughing Heirs) whom you have never met.
Laughing Heir is taken from the German ‘der lachende Erbe’ referring to heirs whose relationship to the deceased is so distant they suffer no sense of bereavement but are happy to receive an unexpected financial windfall
Download our Information Sheet Intestacy, read this article, No Will leads to family disputes, or call us now on 0131 556 4044
If there is no Will, and no heirs that can be found, the Scottish Government will get these assets.