13.4 Intestacy and Property Passing Outside The Estate Flashcards
When do the rules of intestacy apply?
- deceased died without having made a will or didn’t make a valid will (mistake / error)
- the deceased’s will did not dispose of the entire property because the gift has failed; this is a partial intestacy.
What is the first step on the death of an interstate person?
Personal representatives must pay the funeral, testamentary and administrative expenses, debts and other liabilities of the deceased from cash and the other proceeds of the sale of assets.
What is the spouse or civil partner of the deceased entitled to under the rules of intestacy if they leave issue (without a making a valid will)?
- all the personal property and belongings of the person who has died (chattels)
- the first £322,000 of the estate
- half of the remaining estate
Meaning of issue
children and grandchildren
If the intestate leaves no issue and a spouse, what happens
They take the whole state absolutely
How many days must the spouse survive after the death of their partner to be subject to the rules of intestacy
28 days
If there is no surviving spouse, what is the order of entitlement
issues
parents - equally etc
brother and sisters of whole blood
siblings of half blood
grandparents - equally
uncles and aunts of whole blood
half blood uncles and aunts
the Crown as bona vacantia
Earlier classes take the
Exclusion of later classes
lower classes are excluded by the upper class beneficiaries
The statutory legacy - how does it work
take the 322,000 from the total amount of assets, give that to the spouse then divide the residue equally between the spouse and the issue. Used when the spouse died intestate (without having made a valid will).
What is the statutory legacy amount currently and what is it?
£322,000. The sum to which a surviving spouse/civil partner is entitled from the estate when the deceased died intestate (without having made a valid will) with children.
What does ‘statutory trusts’ mean?
In short: for classes (apart from parents and grandparents) if they die their issue will inherit the trust.
means that, for all classes other than parents and grandparents, a class
member’s issue takes their parent’s share per stirpes if the class member has predeceased
(provided the issue attain 18 or marry earlier). Per stirpes means “through the root” and this
term is used because children inherit through their parent’s share.
Per stripes means
“through the root” and this
term is used because children inherit through their parent’s share.
Adopted children and illegitimate children are treated as
children for the purposes of the intestacy rules
they will inherit as their child
Property owned as a joint tenant, in contrast to tenants in common - will the property pass under the rules of intestacy?
passes outside of the intestacy rules
right of survivorship - passes to the partner who is left
However, if the property had been owned as tenants in common, it would pass via their will (their share in the property) or intestacy if there was no valid will
Life trusts and life tenants - are they subject to the rules of intestacy?
No. Will pass according to the terms of the trust
residuary of the estate is shared according to the
statutory rules
If the intestate leaves no issue, how will the spouse take their estate?
Absolutely
Some property cannot pass via the testator’s will or the rules of intestacy but will pass
outside the estate - what does this include?
o property owned as a beneficial joint tenant
o life assurance policies
o pension scheme death benefits
o nominated property
o life interests in trust property, and
o gifts where the donor has reserved a benefit.
Inter vivos
In their lifetime