If you’ve been thinking of getting a will, November is a good month to do something about it. Will Aid is an annual scheme whereby participating solicitors have agreed to write basic wills for no fee, on the understanding that you make a donation to charity (£95-150). A basic will covers the vast majority of people, unless you have over £375,000 in net assets or want to do something complicated such as setting up a trust.
If you die without a will, there are various rules which decide who receives your assets. These defaults may not be what you want, and in any case can be changed by successive governments. In particular, if you have a partner to whom you are not married or in a civil partnership, by default they will receive nothing.