What is
Intestacy?
Intestacy can occur when a person dies without leaving a valid Will, where they have revoked their Will or where their Will is void. There may also be circumstances in which a partial intestacy occurs, this could happen where there is a valid Will but it fails to deal with all of the deceased’s Estate, where a Will has been partially revoked, where a residuary beneficiary predeceases the deceased who made the Will or where a residuary clause within the Will is ineffective.
Where there is an intestacy (whether completely or partially) it means that the Estate, of the deceased, will be administered in accordance with the Rules of Intestacy.
The Rules of Intestacy are set out in law, are very specific and may not be what the deceased wanted to happen. However, without a Will the wishes of the deceased cannot be carried out.
Where a person leaves a Will, an Executor is appointed (within the Will) to administer their Estate upon their death. When there is no will and a person dies intestate, a Personal Representative will apply to administer their Estate, they are known as an Administrator and will apply for Letters of Administration (as opposed to a Grant of Probate that is applied for when there is a Will).
It is important to note that you must always use the Law of Intestacy in place at THE TIME THE DECEASED DIED not those in place at the date when the Estate is administered.
As a brief overview, the ‘New Rules’ of Intestacy (Inheritance and Trustees’ Powers Act 2014) states that:
- where there is a spouse and NO children, the whole Estate passes to the spouse
- where there is a spouse AND children,
- (if the deceased died before 6 February 2020) the spouse gets the first £250,000;
- (if the deceased died after 6 February 2020) the spouse gets the first £270,000;
- The remainder is divided in HALF, the spouse takes one half absolutely, the children take the other half in equal shares;
- where there is NO surviving spouse then the following are considered, in order:
- children;
- parents (equally if both alive);
- siblings of whole blood;
- siblings of half blood;
- grandparents (equally if more than one);
- uncles and aunts of whole blood;
- uncles and aunts of half blood;
- Crown (Bona Vacantia)
Where the children of the deceased have predeceased them, if they have left children of their own (grandchildren of the deceased) they will take the share that their parent would have taken had their parent been alive.
REMEMBER:
You do not have to deal with Probate, whether there is a Will or not, alone and you can always seek professional advice, guidance and support.
If you would like to have a free chat about your existing Will or making a new Will, please contact us on info@TotalLegacyCare.co.uk or 01727 865 121
Leah Waller
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