The Intestacy Rules- FS

Question 1

What is intestacy and when does it occur?

Answer 1

Intestacy occurs when a person dies without a valid will, or where a will fails to dispose of the entire estate.

Question 2

What are the three forms of intestacy?

Answer 2

1) Total intestacy due to no will,

(2) total intestacy due to an invalid will,

(3) partial intestacy due to a valid will not disposing of the entire estate.

Question 3

Who is responsible for administering the estate of an intestate person?

Answer 3

Administrators, not executors, are appointed to manage and distribute the estate according to the intestacy rules.

Question 4

Under section 46 of the Administration of Estates Act 1925, who inherits the estate if there is a surviving spouse and no issue?

Answer 4

The entire estate passes to the surviving spouse alone.

Question 5

How is the estate divided under intestacy when the deceased leaves a spouse and issue?

Answer 5

The spouse receives a statutory legacy of £270,000, all personal possessions (except items used for business purposes), and half of the residuary estate; the issue receive the remaining half.

Question 6

Who qualifies as “issue” under intestacy law?

Answer 6

All direct descendants, including legally adopted children, but excluding stepchildren.

Question 7

What happens to the deceased’s share in a family home if the property was solely owned or held as tenants in common?

Answer 7

It forms part of the residuary estate and may be appropriated by the surviving spouse as part of their entitlement.

Question 8

What are the entitlements of the surviving spouse under intestacy if personal possessions are worth £100,000 and the estate exceeds the statutory legacy amount?

Answer 8

They receive £270,000 statutory legacy, £100,000 in personal possessions, and half of the remaining residuary estate.

Question 9

Can the surviving spouse request the family home as part of their share of the estate under intestacy?

Answer 9

Yes, they may require administrators to appropriate the family home in satisfaction of their interest in the estate.

Question 10

What effect does the absence of children have on the inheritance rights of the deceased’s parents and siblings if there is a surviving spouse?

Answer 10

The parents and siblings have no entitlement; the entire estate passes to the surviving spouse.

Question 11

In partial intestacy, what typically causes part of the estate to fall under the intestacy rules?

Answer 11

A valid will that fails to include a gift of the residue or where the residuary gift fails.

Question 12

Under intestacy rules, if someone dies leaving a surviving spouse and three children, how is the residuary estate divided?

Answer 12

After the spouse receives the statutory legacy and personal possessions, the residuary estate is split equally: half to the spouse and half to be divided equally among the children under statutory trusts.

Question 13

What happens to a family home under intestacy if it was either solely owned by the deceased or held as tenants in common with the spouse?

Answer 13

The deceased’s interest forms part of the residuary estate and does not automatically pass to the surviving spouse.

Question 14

Who is first entitled to inherit under intestacy rules when there is no surviving spouse or civil partner?

Answer 14

The deceased’s issue—i.e., their direct descendants, including children and adopted children.

Question 15

If someone dies intestate with no spouse or issue, who inherits next under section 46?

Answer 15

The surviving parents of the deceased, equally if both are alive.

Question 16

Who inherits if there are no surviving spouse, issue, or parents?

Answer 16

The deceased’s full siblings; if a sibling is prdeceased the intestate but has issue, the issue inherits in their place.

Question 17

Under intestacy rules, how does inheritance proceed if there are no surviving siblings or their issue?

Answer 17

The estate passes to any surviving half-siblings.

Question 18

What happens if there are no grandparents to inherit under intestacy?

Answer 18

The estate passes to any surviving aunts and uncles (full-blood), followed by half-aunts and half-uncles if no full-blood relatives survive.

Question 19

What is the final destination of an estate under intestacy if no qualifying relatives survive?

Answer 19

The entire estate passes to the Crown as bona vacantia.

Question 20

Does a long-term cohabiting partner have any automatic entitlement under intestacy laws in England and Wales?

Answer 20

No; cohabitees are not recognized as spouses under intestacy rules and have no automatic right to inherit.

Question 21

Do adopted children have the same rights as biological children under intestacy rules?

Answer 21

Yes; adopted children are treated as legal issue and inherit as direct descendants.

Question 22

In an intestacy where there is no spouse, but the deceased leaves a biological son and an adopted daughter, who inherits?

Answer 22

Both the son and adopted daughter inherit equally as direct descendants under Section 46.

Question 23

What is the statutory order of inheritance under intestacy rules when there is no surviving spouse or civil partner?

Answer 23

1. Issue (children, grandchildren, adopted children)
2. Parents
3. Full siblings (or their issue, if deceased)
4. Half-siblings
5. Grandparents
6. Full aunts and uncles
7. Half-aunts and half-uncles
8. The Crown (bona vacantia)

Question 24

What is a statutory trust in the context of intestacy law?

Answer 24

A trust administered by the intestate’s administrators of an intestate estate to hold and distribute property according to Section 46 of the Administration of Estates Act.

Question 25

In which situations does a statutory trust apply in intestacy?

Answer 25

When the deceased dies intestate leaving a surviving spouse and issue, or where there is no surviving spouse.

Question 26

Before distributing the residuary estate under a statutory trust, what expenses must administrators pay?

Answer 26

Funeral, testamentary, and administrative expenses

Question 27

Under Section 47 of the Administration of Estates Act, what conditions must issue meet to inherit under a statutory trust?

Answer 27

They must outlive the intestate and reach the age of 18.

Question 28

What is the difference between a vested interest and a contingent interest under statutory trusts?

Answer 28

A vested interest gives immediate entitlement; a contingent interest requires fulfillment of conditions, such as reaching age 18.

Question 29

How is a deceased child’s share distributed under statutory trusts if they leave surviving children?

Answer 29

Their share passes in equal parts to their own surviving children, who inherit on statutory trusts.

Question 30

What happens to a minor’s inheritance under a statutory trust?

Answer 30

The interest is contingent until the minor reaches the age of 18.

Question 31

If one of the children entitled under a statutory trust predeceases the intestate but leaves surviving children, what is the legal consequence?

Answer 31

The deceased child’s share is inherited by their children (the intestate’s grandchildren) equally, as contingent interests.

Question 32

Why would one child have a contingent interest and another a vested interest in the same statutory trust?

Answer 32

Because the child with a contingent interest is under 18, while the other has reached the age of majority and thus gains a vested right.

Question 33

Under the Intestacy Rules, how is paternal inheritance affected if the deceased’s parents were unmarried and the father is not named on the birth certificate?

Answer 33

The father and his relatives are treated as having not survived the deceased, and are excluded from inheriting under the intestacy rules.

Question 34

What is the legal effect under the Commorientes Rule when spouses die together and it’s unclear who died first, with no 28-day survivorship clause in either will?

Answer 34

The younger spouse is deemed to have survived the elder, so the younger inherits under the elder’s will, and if the younger’s will includes a substitutional gift, their estate passes accordingly.