Making a will in New Zealand and what happens if you die without one

Last updated 20 June 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.

Most New Zealand adults do not have a current will, and many who do have one that no longer reflects their life. It is easy to put off, but the consequences of getting it wrong fall on the people you leave behind, at the worst possible time. A will is simply the way you decide who gets what and who sorts it out. Without one, the law decides for you, by a rigid formula that takes no account of your relationships, your intentions, or what would be fair.

This guide explains how to make a will that actually works, the simple mistakes that quietly invalidate one, exactly what happens if you die without a will, and the ways an estate can be challenged. It is general information, not legal advice, and for anything beyond a straightforward estate it is worth seeing a lawyer or trustee company.

Why a will matters

A will does more than divide your money. In it you name the executor who will carry out your wishes, you say who inherits what, you can record your wishes for the guardianship of your children, and you can leave specific items to specific people. It is the one document that lets you keep control of all of that.

Without a will, several things happen that people do not intend. The law, not you, decides who inherits and in what shares. Someone has to apply to the court to be appointed to administer the estate, which is slower and more expensive than acting on a clear will. Friends, charities or a partner you had not married could miss out entirely, while relatives you were not close to could inherit. And if there are genuinely no qualifying relatives at all, the estate goes to the Crown. A will is how you avoid all of that.

Making a valid will

The rules for a valid will are set out in the Wills Act 2007, and they are not complicated. To make a will you generally have to be 18 or over, though a younger person who is married, in a civil union or in a de facto relationship can make one, and you must understand what you are doing, which the law calls testamentary capacity.

For the will itself, three things are required.

• It must be in writing. Typed or handwritten, on paper.
• You must sign it. You sign the will yourself, or direct someone to sign on your behalf in your presence.
• Two witnesses must witness your signature together. Both witnesses must be present at the same time when you sign, and they then sign too. They are confirming they saw you sign, not the contents.

If a will does not meet these formal requirements, it is not automatically worthless. The High Court has the power to declare a document a valid will despite a defect, such as only one witness, if it is satisfied the document expresses the person’s testamentary intentions. But that requires a court application, which is exactly the cost and delay a properly made will avoids, so it is far better to get the formalities right in the first place.

The mistakes that undo a will

A few simple errors trip people up again and again.

A beneficiary as a witness. If one of your witnesses, or their spouse or partner, is someone who benefits under the will, the will stays valid but the gift to that person generally fails. So never use a beneficiary, or a beneficiary’s partner, as a witness. Choose independent witnesses with nothing to gain.

Marrying after making the will. Marrying or entering a civil union automatically revokes an earlier will, unless the will was specifically made in contemplation of that marriage or civil union. Many people do not know this, and die with a will they think is current but which the law has cancelled, leaving them effectively intestate. If you marry, make a new will.

Letting it go out of date. Separation, a new child, a death, buying a house or a falling-out can all make an old will wrong without making it invalid. A will should be reviewed after any major life change. Note that separating from a spouse does not by itself revoke a will, though a finalised divorce affects gifts to a former spouse, which is another reason to update it deliberately rather than rely on the law to fix it.

Dying without a will, who gets what

If you die without a valid will, you die intestate, and the Administration Act 1969 sets a fixed order of who inherits. The exact result depends on who survives you, but the main scenarios are these.

• A partner and children. Your surviving husband, wife or partner receives your personal belongings, the first $155,000 of the estate with interest, and one third of whatever is left. Your children share the remaining two thirds equally.
• A partner and no children, but parents living. Your partner receives your personal belongings, the first $155,000, and two thirds of the rest, and your parents share the remaining third.
• A partner and no children or parents. Your partner receives the whole estate.
• Children and no partner. Your children share the whole estate equally.
• No partner and no children. The estate passes to your closest relatives in a set order, starting with your parents, then brothers and sisters, then wider family. If there are no qualifying relatives at all, it goes to the Crown.

The $155,000 figure is a fixed statutory amount, not a share, so in a smaller estate the partner may receive most or all of it, while in a larger estate the split between partner and children becomes more significant. The key point is that none of this bends to your actual wishes. A partner you never married but lived with, a stepchild you raised, a close friend, or a charity get nothing under intestacy unless they fit the categories, which is the strongest argument there is for making a will.

De facto partners and blended families

De facto partners are recognised. A de facto partner, including a same-sex partner, who was in the relationship for at least three years is treated the same as a married spouse under the intestacy rules. A relationship of under three years can complicate matters, and is one of the situations where having a will, or getting advice, really matters.

Blended families are where intestacy causes the most heartache. If you have children from an earlier relationship and a new partner, the intestacy formula can leave your partner and your children competing over the same estate in ways you never intended, and a stepchild you treated as your own has no automatic claim at all. If your family is anything other than a simple nuclear one, a will is not optional, it is the only way to make sure the people you actually want to provide for are provided for.

When a will can be challenged

A will is not always the final word, and two avenues can change how an estate is actually distributed, whether or not there was a will.

A family protection claim. Under the Family Protection Act 1955, certain close family members, including a spouse or partner, children and in some cases grandchildren and parents, can apply to the court for greater provision from an estate if the deceased did not make adequate provision for their proper maintenance and support. This recognises a moral duty to provide for close family, and the court can rewrite the distribution to meet it. It means you cannot always simply cut out a child, and it is a common ground of estate disputes.

A relationship property claim. When someone dies, their surviving spouse or partner can choose between taking what the will or intestacy gives them, or instead making a claim for their share of the relationship property under the Property (Relationships) Act, just as they could on separation. This choice has a time limit, generally six months from the grant of administration, so it has to be made promptly. It can significantly change what the rest of the estate has left to distribute. Our guide on relationship property explains how that division works.

Executors, probate and sorting an estate

When someone dies, someone has to gather in the assets, pay the debts, and distribute what is left. If there is a will, that person is the executor named in it. If there is no will, a close relative usually applies to the court to be appointed the administrator. Either way they may need a grant from the High Court, called probate where there is a will, or letters of administration where there is not, which is the court’s confirmation of their authority to deal with the estate.

Not every estate needs a grant. Small estates can be dealt with more simply. The threshold for releasing assets without a grant was raised to $40,000 on 24 September 2025, so where the relevant assets held by a bank or institution are under that amount, they can often be released without going through probate. Above it, or where there is land to transfer, a grant is generally needed. A clear, valid will with a willing executor makes this whole process far faster and cheaper than the alternative, which is one more reason the will is worth getting right while you can.

The takeaway

A will is a small piece of admin that saves the people you love a great deal of cost, delay and conflict. Make one in writing, sign it in front of two independent witnesses who gain nothing from it, and keep it current, especially after marrying, separating, or having children. Understand that without a will the law hands your estate out by a fixed formula that ignores your wishes, that de facto partners and blended families are where that goes most wrong, and that even a will can be adjusted by a family protection or relationship property claim. For anything other than a simple estate, get advice. It is one of the cheapest forms of certainty you can buy.

Related guides

• Relationship property in New Zealand, who gets what in a separation
• Child support in New Zealand, how it is calculated

Frequently asked questions

What makes a will valid in New Zealand

It must be in writing, signed by you, and your signature witnessed by two people who are present at the same time and who also sign. You generally need to be 18 or over and understand what you are doing. Witnesses must not be beneficiaries or their partners, or the gift to them fails. A defective will can sometimes be validated by the High Court, but that is costly to rely on.

What happens if I die without a will in New Zealand

You die intestate and the Administration Act 1969 decides who inherits. If you leave a partner and children, the partner gets your personal belongings, the first $155,000 and a third of the rest, and the children share two thirds. Other combinations pass to partner, children, parents and wider family in a set order, and to the Crown if there are no qualifying relatives.

Does my partner automatically get everything if I die

Not necessarily. Without a will, a partner shares the estate with your children, receiving your belongings, the first $155,000 and a third of the remainder, while the children get two thirds. A partner only takes the whole estate where there are no children and no parents. The way to make sure your partner is provided for as you intend is to make a will.

Do de facto partners inherit without a will

Yes, if the relationship lasted at least three years, a de facto partner, including a same-sex partner, is treated the same as a married spouse under the intestacy rules. A de facto relationship of under three years is more complicated, which is one of the situations where a will or legal advice is especially important.

Does getting married cancel my will

Yes. Marrying or entering a civil union automatically revokes any earlier will, unless it was made in contemplation of that particular marriage or civil union. Many people are caught out by this and die with a will they believe is current but which the law has cancelled. Make a new will when you marry.

Can someone challenge my will

Yes. Under the Family Protection Act 1955, close family such as a partner, children and sometimes grandchildren or parents can ask the court for greater provision if they were not adequately provided for. A surviving partner can also elect to claim their relationship property share instead of taking under the will. Both can change how the estate is actually distributed.

Do I need a lawyer to make a will

Not strictly, and a simple valid will can be made without one as long as the signing and witnessing are done correctly. But for a blended family, a trust, property in multiple names, or anything you want to be sure holds up, a lawyer or trustee company is worth the modest cost, because errors are usually only discovered after death when they cannot be fixed.

Have you sorted a will or dealt with an estate without one in New Zealand? Tell us how it went in the comments below.