Intestacy and Grandchildren UK (2026): Do Grandchildren Inherit From a Grandparent Who Dies Without a Will?

The answer is: only in limited circumstances — and only where their own parent has already died. The general rule is: grandchildren do NOT inherit from a grandparent on intestacy if the grandparent's own children are still alive. The intestacy rules under the Administration of Estates Act 1925 operate in a strict priority order: (1) THE AEA 1925 s.46 PRIORITY ORDER: (a) first: the surviving spouse or civil partner (up to the statutory legacy and half the remainder); (b) then: the deceased's own children (the 'issue' who qualify under the statutory trusts); (c) if there are no children/surviving issue: the deceased's parents; (d) then: siblings of the whole blood; (e) then: siblings of the half blood; (f) then: grandparents; (g) then: uncles and aunts of the whole blood (cousins are NOT included); (h) if none: the Crown takes as bona vacantia; (2) WHERE DO GRANDCHILDREN FIT: grandchildren are 'issue' of the deceased and can inherit — but only if their parent (the deceased's child) has already died. If the grandparent's children all survive, the grandchildren receive nothing under the intestacy rules — even if the grandparent would have wanted them to benefit; (3) EXAMPLE 1 — CHILDREN SURVIVE: a grandmother dies intestate. She has a daughter (age 52) and three grandchildren (the daughter's children). The estate passes to the daughter. The grandchildren inherit nothing from their grandmother at this stage; (4) EXAMPLE 2 — PARENT PREDECEASED: the same grandmother, but her daughter died two years ago. The three grandchildren survive the grandmother. Under AEA 1925 s.47, the grandchildren take their mother's share per stirpes — they divide the share their mother would have taken. They each receive one-third of the estate (assuming no other issue or surviving spouse); (5) THE CRITICAL POINT: a grandparent who wants to guarantee that grandchildren inherit — regardless of whether the grandchildren's parents survive — MUST make a will. The intestacy rules will not achieve this.

When a deceased's estate passes to their 'issue' under the intestacy rules, it passes on what the AEA 1925 calls 'statutory trusts'. The statutory trusts determine how the issue divide the estate and what happens when some have predeceased: (1) THE STATUTORY TRUSTS (AEA 1925 s.47): the estate is held on statutory trusts for the issue of the deceased. The trusts operate as follows: (a) the estate is divided into as many shares as there are children of the deceased who are alive at the date of death PLUS children who predeceased but left surviving issue; (b) each surviving child takes one share absolutely (subject to the attaining-18 requirement below); (c) each share allocated to a predeceased child passes to that child's own children (the grandchildren) in equal shares — on the same statutory trusts; (2) THE PER STIRPES PRINCIPLE: 'per stirpes' means 'by branch' or 'by stock'. Each family line takes one share — determined by the share the parent would have taken. WORKED EXAMPLE: G has three children — A, B, and C. A has two children (GA1 and GA2). B has no children. C has three children (GC1, GC2, GC3). B and C survive G. A predeceased G. RESULT: the estate is divided into three shares (A's branch, B, and C). B takes one-third directly. C takes one-third directly. A's one-third passes to GA1 and GA2 in equal shares — each gets one-sixth of the total estate. GC1, GC2, GC3 get nothing because their parent C survived G; (3) THE CONTINGENCY — ATTAINING 18: the grandchildren take their share subject to attaining the age of 18 (or marrying before 18). Until a grandchild is 18, their share is held on trust by the administrators. If a grandchild dies before turning 18, their share passes to their own estate (to be distributed under their will or the intestacy rules for their estate). If they have no issue, the share passes to the other grandchildren in the same branch under the statutory trusts; (4) ACCUMULATION OF INCOME: while a beneficiary under the statutory trusts is under 18, the trustees may apply income for the beneficiary's maintenance, education, and benefit (Trustee Act 1925 s.31). Income not applied is accumulated and added to capital; (5) IF ALL A GRANDCHILD'S SIBLINGS ALSO PREDECEASE WITHOUT ISSUE: if all the grandchildren of a predeceased child die before 18 without their own children, the share that would have gone to that branch fails and passes to the remaining branches of the estate.

Where all of the deceased's children have predeceased them, the grandchildren take the estate. But they do NOT necessarily share equally — they share per stirpes by branch: (1) PER STIRPES NOT PER CAPITA: the fundamental principle is that the estate is still divided into the same number of branches as the deceased had children (who left surviving issue). Each branch takes one equal share — the grandchildren within that branch then divide their branch's share equally among themselves. This is per stirpes, not per capita (per capita would mean all grandchildren share equally regardless of which parent they came from); (2) WORKED EXAMPLE — ALL CHILDREN PREDECEASED: G has three children — A, B, and C. All three have predeceased G. A had two children (GA1 and GA2). B had one child (GB1). C had three children (GC1, GC2, GC3). G dies without a spouse. RESULT: the estate is divided into three branches (A, B, C). Each branch takes one-third. A's branch (GA1 and GA2) each take one-sixth (halving the one-third branch share). B's branch: GB1 takes the whole one-third. C's branch (GC1, GC2, GC3) each take one-ninth (dividing the one-third branch share by three). TOTAL: GA1 = 1/6; GA2 = 1/6; GB1 = 1/3; GC1 = 1/9; GC2 = 1/9; GC3 = 1/9. This is very different from equal shares (1/6 each); (3) IF ONE BRANCH HAS NO SURVIVING ISSUE: if child B predeceased G and had no children, the estate is divided between the remaining two surviving-issue branches (A and C). Each branch takes one-half; (4) CASCADING THROUGH GENERATIONS: the per stirpes principle continues indefinitely. If a grandchild also predeceased G and left children (great-grandchildren of G), the great-grandchildren take the predeceased grandchild's sub-share within their branch; (5) PRACTICAL IMPORTANCE: in large families with unequal numbers of children per branch, per stirpes can produce very different outcomes from equal sharing. For example, G has two children — A (who had one child) and B (who had five children). On per stirpes: A's child takes 50%; B's five children share 50% (10% each). This may feel unfair to B's children — but it is what the law provides. A will can override this and distribute differently.

The law has progressively equalised the treatment of different categories of grandchildren: (1) ADOPTED GRANDCHILDREN: under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (and its predecessor, the Adoption Act 1976), an adopted child is treated for all legal purposes as the natural child of the adoptive parents and ceases to be the child of the birth parents. For intestacy purposes: (a) an adopted grandchild (a child adopted by the deceased's child) is treated exactly the same as a natural grandchild; (b) an adopted grandchild takes their parent's share per stirpes on the same basis as any other grandchild; (c) a child adopted BY the deceased is treated as the deceased's own child — they inherit as a child, not a grandchild; (d) a child who was adopted OUT of the family (one of the deceased's natural grandchildren who was adopted by someone else) is no longer treated as the natural grandchild for intestacy purposes — they would inherit from their adoptive family, not their birth family; (2) ILLEGITIMATE GRANDCHILDREN (GRANDCHILDREN BORN OUTSIDE MARRIAGE): the Family Law Reform Act 1969 first gave illegitimate children rights in intestacy. The Family Law Reform Act 1987 completed the reform — section 1 provides that references to 'children' and 'issue' in the AEA 1925 and other legislation are to be construed as including illegitimate children and their descendants. An illegitimate grandchild (a grandchild born of an unmarried child of the deceased) is treated exactly the same as a legitimate grandchild for intestacy purposes. There is no longer any distinction; (3) STEP-GRANDCHILDREN: a step-grandchild (the child of a step-child, i.e. a child of the deceased's spouse who is not the deceased's biological child) has NO right to inherit on intestacy. They are not 'issue' of the deceased and do not inherit unless there is a will naming them. This is a common gap in intestacy planning for blended families; (4) GRANDCHILDREN CONCEIVED BUT UNBORN AT DATE OF DEATH: AEA 1925 s.55(2) provides that a person conceived before the intestate's death but born after is treated as having survived the intestate for the purposes of the intestacy provisions. An unborn grandchild whose parent predeceased the intestate is therefore included as a beneficiary; (5) CHILDREN OF VOID AND VOIDABLE MARRIAGES: children of a void marriage who are legitimated by the subsequent marriage of the parents are treated as legitimate from birth for intestacy purposes.

The intestacy rules provide a poor outcome for grandparents who want to benefit grandchildren. A will gives full control: (1) THE BASIC RULE: if a grandparent wants to guarantee a gift to grandchildren (regardless of whether the grandchildren's parents survive), they MUST make a will. Relying on intestacy only benefits grandchildren if their parents predecease — which is precisely the situation grandparents cannot control; (2) DIRECT LEGACY TO GRANDCHILDREN: the simplest approach is a direct pecuniary legacy in the will: 'I give £10,000 to each of my grandchildren who are living at the date of my death'. This gives each named or unnamed grandchild a specific cash gift; (3) CONTINGENT LEGACY ON AGE: legacies to young grandchildren are typically made contingent on reaching a specified age: 'I give the sum of £10,000 to each of my grandchildren who attain the age of 21 years'. If the grandchild dies before 21, the legacy lapses. Trustees hold the fund until the grandchild qualifies; (4) RESIDUE TO GRANDCHILDREN: 'I give the rest and residue of my estate to such of my grandchildren as shall survive me in equal shares' — this passes the residue equally between all grandchildren who outlive the testator, regardless of whether their parents survive; (5) PER STIRPES TO CHILDREN WITH SUBSTITUTION: many grandparents prefer to give first to children, and only if a child predeceases should grandchildren inherit that child's share: 'I give the rest and residue to my children in equal shares, and if any child predeceases me leaving children of their own, those children shall take their parent's share equally per stirpes'. This mirrors what the intestacy rules do but applies regardless of whether the will says so, and can be extended further; (6) TRUSTS FOR YOUNG GRANDCHILDREN: where grandchildren are young, the will can establish a trust under which trustees hold the grandchild's share until a specified age (18, 21, or 25). The trustees manage the funds and apply income for maintenance, education, and benefit in the meantime; (7) THE RNRB POINT: the RNRB (£175,000 per person) applies to transfers of qualifying residential property to 'direct descendants' — which includes grandchildren as well as children. Leaving the family home to grandchildren in the will can qualify for the RNRB, reducing IHT.