Marriage is important on death — obviously this does not apply to everyone, but it is one of the simplest ways to avoid Inheritance Tax, and to make sure the right person inherits.
The wife or husband of the deceased pays no Inheritance Tax. This is worth repeating.
If the deceased leaves all or part of her estate to her husband, there will be no IHT payable on that; if a spouse inherits under the intestacy rules, again there is no IHT payable. This does not apply to so-called “common law” marriages, but it does apply to civil partnerships.
“Common law marriage” — there is no such thing in England & Wales. A lot of people think that being a “common law” husband or wife is as good as being married. It is not, so far as inheritance is concerned.
Even where there is a Will under which a spouse has not been left reasonable provision — because too much property has been left to other people — a married partner will be able to make a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. There is only limited provision for unmarried couples who have lived together, and only on limited facts:
Section 1(1)(e) — any person who, immediately before the death of the deceased, was being maintained, either wholly or partly, by the deceased; or
Section 1(1A) — if the deceased died on or after 1 January 1996, and during the whole of the two years ending immediately before the death the person was living in the same household as the deceased, and as if that person and the deceased were a married couple or civil partners.
If there is no Will, and the couple are married or in a Civil Partnership, then under the rules of intestacy the spouse or civil partner will inherit. If they are not, the “common law wife” or husband gets nothing.
The moral of this is: get married.