Law Commission Recommends Reform To Intestacy Rules

The Law Commission (“the Commission”), an independent body whose role it is to keep the law under review, has recommended reform to the inheritance law in England & Wales.

 Last month the Commission published its final report in which it recommended reform to the law governing intestacy and claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

 An intestacy occurs when a person dies without leaving a valid will disposing of the whole of his or her property. Claims under the Inheritance Act can be brought by family members or dependants if they feel that a will has not made “reasonable financial provision” for them.

 Following an extensive public survey, consideration of the law in other countries and changing social attitudes towards inheritance the Commission has recommended in particular the following changes to the law:-

 ON AN INTESTACY 

 ·         If the deceased leaves a spouse but no children (or other descendants), the spouse should receive the whole estate 

·         If the deceased leaves a spouse and children (or other descendants) and the estate exceeds £250,000 in value, no life interest should be created for the surviving spouse. Instead the spouse would receive half of the balance of the estate over £250,000 outright.

·         Children who are adopted after the death of a parent should not lose their entitlement to share in that estate as a result of their adoption 

·         Unmarried couples who have lived together for five years or more or have had a child together living in the same household for at least two years should share in their partner’s estate without having to go to Court 

 CLAIMS UNDER THE INHERITANCE ACT

• A person who was treated by the deceased as a child of his or her family should be eligible to make a claim even where the deceased was not married or in a civil partnership 

• Dependants should not be prevented from making claims simply because the deceased did not assume responsibility for the maintenance or contributed more to the relationship than the dependant. Those factors would be considered by the Court but would not on their own be enough to prevent a dependant making a successful claim.  

• A claim should be allowed in circumstances where the deceased died domiciled outside of England & Wales but left assets governed by English succession law.  

• Unmarried couples should be allowed to bring a claim against their partner’s estate if they have had a child with their partner but they have been living together for less than two years at the time of the partner’s death 

Charlie Siegle, a Solicitor in the Private Client team in Torquay, specialises in disputes involving wills and estates as well as dealing with wills and probate. He comments that:- 

“The Law Commission’s proposed reforms should help modernise the law as it applies to intestacy and claims under the Inheritance Act. In particular they have recognised that inheritance law does not adequately provide for unmarried couples who are in established relationships.

I very much hope that the Government will make time to consider the two draft bills that the Law Commission has put forward as this area of the law needs to be updated.”