Home / Dying without a Will: lessons from Liam Payne’s estate
28th May 2025
Richard Wilson, Associate and Tyler Ross, Trainee Solicitor
The sad and unexpected passing of Liam Payne has highlighted the importance of making a Will, regardless of your age.
The former One Direction Star died without leaving a Will in place and this means that the entirety of his £24 million estate will be administered in accordance with the ‘Intestacy Rules’.
The Intestacy Rules are specific guidelines that cannot be deviated from and determine how the estate is divided among the deceased’s family members where there is no Will. This means that, all too often, people closest to the deceased stand to lose out. For instance, Liam Payne’s 8-year-old son has become the sole beneficiary of his estate, leaving important people in Liam’s life, such as his parents and long-term partner, in line to inherit nothing.
This is unfortunately a situation that we often encounter but there can be options available to those who may have lost out under the Intestacy Rules. We recently acted for an individual whose cohabiting partner (of over 60 years) passed away without having a Will in place. The deceased in this case had no immediate family and, under Intestacy Rules, distant relatives that the deceased had never met or had contact with stood to inherit everything.
We were able to trace the deceased’s relatives that were to benefit from the estate under the Intestacy Rules, many of which lived abroad, including in the USA and Greece. We were able to avoid having to issue proceedings and, ultimately, secured half of the value of the estate for our client, in circumstances where he might otherwise have received nothing.
If you do not yet have a Will in place, please contact our Tax and Estate Planning team on 0161 832 3434 or info@kuits.com.
If you are disappointed not to have received anything under the Inheritance Rules, please contact Richard Wilson who heads the Contentious Probate team at Kuits.