Wills and Admin of Estates Flashcards
You are acting on behalf of a new client who would like advice following the recent death of her husband. Your client has just sent you a cheque for £7,000 marked as “payable on account of costs”.
Which of the following best describes your obligations regarding the money your client has sent you?
A. You must pay the cheque for £7,000 promptly into the firm’s business account.
B. Unless your client requests otherwise, you must pay the cheque for £7,000 promptly into a separate designated client.
C. If your client has not yet been issued an invoice in respect of the firm’s legal services, you must return the cheque to her promptly as there is no proper reason to hold the funds.
D. If there are no disbursements which need to be paid now, you must return the cheque to your client as there is no proper reason to hold the funds.
E. You should make an entry in the firm’s client ledger to record receipt of the cheque for £7,000.
Answer: E
B vs E:
B: ‘separate designated client account’
Is it the case that we have to open a different client account (B) or is it the case that we have to make an entry in the firm’s client ledger (E)?
The general rule is that we don’t open a separate client account for every new client. We have a single client account and keep track of which money belongs to who. No need to open a separate designated client account for every client unless the client requests it
A woman recently died intestate. The woman’s husband and daughter pre-deceased the woman. The woman is survived by:
· her two adult sons and her adult step-son (the husband’s son from a previous marriage)
· her daughter’s civil partner and their adopted children (the woman’s grandchildren - aged 10 and 6).
Which of the following is correct regarding the distribution of the woman’s estate?
A. The woman’s two sons will share the whole of the estate equally between them.
B. The daughter’s civil partner will take the 1/3 share the daughter would have received had the daughter survived the woman.
C. The woman’s step-son will not inherit anything from the woman’s estate.
D. The woman’s two sons will each take a vested interest in 1/3 and the woman’s two grandchildren will each receive a vested interest in 1/6.
E. The woman’s two sons and two grandchildren will each receive a 1/4 share.
C: A step-child is not included in the definition of “issue” for these purposes. However, an adopted child is treated the same as a biological child (which is why the woman’s grandchildren can inherit their mother’s share).
Not D: the grandchildren’s interests are contingent, not vested
A woman died intestate a month ago. At the time of her death she was separated from her husband of 10 years. The woman and her husband had discussed getting divorced but no formal proceedings had begun. When she died, the woman was living with her son (aged 17 years) and her step-son (aged 18 years). The woman’s daughter (aged 25) lives with her husband and their new baby, the woman’s only grandchild.
Who is entitled to share in the distribution of the woman’s estate?
A. The son and step-son only.
B. The son and daughter only.
C. The husband, son, step-son and daughter only.
D. The husband, son and daughter only.
E. The husband, son, daughter and grandchild only.
D. The husband, son and daughter only.
Where a person dies intestate and is survived by a spouse and issue, only those relatives will take a share of the deceased’s estate. Here, the woman was survived by her husband (it does not matter that they were not living together), and her son (it does not matter how old her son is) and daughter (it makes no difference whether she is living with the deceased or not). The step-son has no entitlement to the estate. Nor does the grandchild if the parent is alive at the date of the intestate’s death.
A man died intestate a month ago. His estate comprised a property owned as joint tenants with his brother, a bank account in his sole name, personal possessions, cash in the house, and a discretionary lump sum payable under the terms of the man’s pension scheme (nominated in favour of the man’s brother).
Which of the following lists the assets that will be distributed in accordance with the intestacy rules?
A. Bank account, personal possessions, cash, and the amount payable under the discretionary pension scheme only.
B. The property, bank account and personal possessions only.
C. Bank account, personal possessions and cash only.
D. The property, bank account, personal possessions, cash, and the amount payable under the discretionary pension scheme.
E. The property, bank account, personal possessions and cash only.
C. Bank account, personal possessions and cash only.
Items owned as joint tenants will pass in accordance with the rules of survivorship. Therefore, his property will pass directly to his brother and not under the intestacy rules. The discretionary pension lump sum is payable in accordance with the nomination that was made, so will pass directly to his brother and not under the intestacy rules. The remainder of the estate assets are included in the deceased’s succession estate.
A man died intestate a month ago. He was survived by his civil partner and their son (aged 21). The man’s estate comprises a ½ share of a property owned as tenants in common with his civil partner (value of whole £500,000), a savings account (£95,000), a vehicle used solely for business purposes (£5,000) and personal possessions (£20,000).
Which of the following best describes what the man’s civil partner and son are entitled to under the intestacy rules?
A. The man’s civil partner will receive chattels (worth £20,000), a statutory legacy of £322,000, and half of the remainder. The man’s civil partner is entitled to have the property appropriated to them in addition to their entitlement under intestacy. The man’s son will receive a contingent interest in the other half of the remainder.
B. The man’s civil partner will receive chattels (worth £20,000), a statutory legacy of £322,000, and half of the remainder. The man’s civil partner can request that the property is appropriated to them as part of their entitlement under the intestacy. The man’s son will receive a vested interest in the other half of the remainder.
C. The man’s civil partner will receive chattels (worth £25,000), a statutory legacy of £322,000, and half of the remainder absolutely. The man’s son is entitled to a vested interest in the other half of the remainder.
D. The man’s civil partner will receive the entire estate passing under the intestacy rules. The man’s son will receive nothing.
E. The man’s civil partner will receive chattels (worth £25,000), a statutory legacy of £322,000, and half of the remainder. The man’s son will receive a contingent interest in the other half of the remainder.
B. The man’s civil partner will receive chattels (worth £20,000), a statutory legacy of £322,000, and half of the remainder. The man’s civil partner can request that the property is appropriated to them as part of their entitlement under the intestacy. The man’s son will receive a vested interest in the other half of the remainder.
The civil partner is entitled to receive chattels worth £20,000 (the personal possessions but not the business assets), plus a statutory legacy of £322,000, and half of the remainder. As the half-share of the property falls within the estate passing under intestacy, the civil partner can request that the property is transferred to them as part of their entitlement (not in addition to). The son will receive the other half of the remainder on statutory trusts. As he is over the age of 18 his share will be vested.
A woman died intestate a month ago. She had never been married or in a civil partnership. The woman was living with her only grandchild (aged 1). The woman’s son, the grandchild’s father, died before the woman.
The woman’s brother (her only sibling), both of her parents, and her daughter-in-law (the wife of her son) are still alive.
Who is entitled to share in the distribution of the woman’s estate?
A. Her parents only.
B. Her daughter-in-law only.
C. Her granddaughter and brother only.
D. Her daughter-in-law and grandchild only.
E. Her grandchild only.
E. Her grandchild only.
Where a person dies intestate and is survived by issue but no spouse/civil partner, the issue will inherit the whole of the estate. If a child of the intestate dies before their parent, but leaving their own issue, the intestate’s grandchild will inherit the share of the estate their parent would have inherited.
The other options were incorrect because:
-the parents and siblings of an intestate will only inherit if the intestate is not survived by either spouse or issue.
-Where a person due to inherit dies before the intestate’s (here her son) then the son’s spouse would not be entitled to any share of the intestate’s estate.
A man died intestate a month ago. He had never been married or in a civil partnership and had never had any children. Both of the man’s parents died before him. The man was survived by his brother (aged 20), his sister (aged 16, and pregnant with her first child when her brother died), and his aunt (his mother’s sister). The man’s sister gave birth to a baby boy (the man’s nephew) 6 months after the man died. The man’s sister died during childbirth, aged 17.
Who is entitled to share in the distribution of the man’s estate?
A. His brother and his sister’s estate only.
B. His brother and his nephew only.
C. His aunt, his brother and his nephew only.
D. His brother only.
E. His aunt only.
B. His brother and his nephew only.
After spouse, issue and parents the next category of relative entitled to inherit are the siblings of the intestate. The siblings inherit on the terms of the statutory trust so in this case, the brother and sister are entitled to half of the estate each on the terms of the statutory trust i.e. contingent on reaching the age of 18.
The sister died after the intestate but before reaching the contingent age. This means her share never vested and is therefore not part of her estate. Any option suggesting the sister’s estate would benefit is therefore incorrect.
However, because the sister died leaving her own issue, the substitution limb of the statutory trust would apply. The share that would have passed to the man’s sister, passes instead to her children who are alive or en ventre sa mere (a French expression meaning “in its mother’s belly” which refers to a child conceived but not yet born) at the date of the intestate’s death, contingent upon their attaining the age of 18. Although the man’s nephew was not born until after his death, his sister was pregnant at this time and therefore the nephew satisfies the criteria assuming he reaches 18.
The man’s aunt would only inherit if the man had no siblings, or nieces /nephews.
