Case study - intestacy and no close relatives

Our client is the distant relative of the deceased, who had no spouse or children and not prepared a valid Will in their lifetime, meaning that they died “intestate”.  If you die intestate, statutory rules set out  how the deceased’s estate is to be distributed. 

If the deceased does not have a spouse or civil partner or children, their estate may be passed to more distant relatives such as parents, siblings, cousins or other relatives.

As  a distant family member of the deceased, our client  had little to no knowledge of the deceased’s assets and family tree, but in the circumstances, our client  would be entitled to part of the deceased’s estate and so were able to act as personal representative in the estate.

We have faced several challenges in dealing with this estate, due to the personal representative having limited knowledge of the deceased’s affairs as well as the family history. A significant part of our client’s objectives and our instructions relate to ensuring that he is protected from potential liability, given the lack of available information about the deceased.

Challenges

1.      Clarifying whether the deceased made a valid Will within their lifetime.

2.      Identifying the assets and liabilities held by the deceased.

3.      Identifying who should inherit under the deceased’s estate.

4.      Protecting the personal representative from future challenges in their role.

 With the co-operation of the personal representative, we were able to tackle these challenges.

Steps we have taken to resolve the issues

 1.    As we were uncertain as to whether a valid Will was created, we conducted a Will Search through the National Wills Register, who contact local firms to see if they are storing a Will for the deceased.  Through this search it was confirmed that there was no valid Will in existence for the deceased, so we were able to establish that we were dealing with an intestate estate.

2.    To aid us in obtaining details regarding the deceased’s estate, we conducted an Asset & Liability search with an online company who specialise in these reports.  They are able to generate a report detailing the assets (e.g. bank accounts, shareholdings) and liabilities (e.g. utilities) held by the deceased.  Once we received the report, we were able to write to the companies to obtain the figures required for the Letters of Administration application.

3.    As we had limited knowledge of the deceased’s family tree we commissioned a Genealogy Report, which is a report compiling details of the deceased’s family tree.  The instructed company provided us with contact details for the family members who are alive, Death Certificates for any family members who have sadly passed away and generated a list of beneficiaries and the percentage  they are entitled to.  This is calculated using the Rules of Intestacy, as previously referred to. We were then able to confidently administer the estate.

4.    In order to protect the personal representative we have taken the following protective actions :

a.      A Section 27 Statutory Advertisement Notice was placed in the deceased’s local newspaper as well as the London Gazette.  It is good practice to place this notice as it allows any potential creditors to come forward and make a claim before the estate is distributed. This notice protects the personal representative from unknown creditors or beneficiaries once the estate has been distributed.

b.      Missing Beneficiary Insurance was put in place due to  the potential of unknown gaps in the family tree. Despite a Genealogy Report having been conducted, it is good practice to put this insurance policy in place as it protects the personal representative and beneficiaries from claims by unknown or missing beneficiaries who may come forward after an estate has been distributed. 

 Outcome

Our client can now proceed to act as personal representative in the estate by making the Letters of Administration application. The personal representative has peace of mind knowing that as precautions have been taken out, their role has been protected from anything which might crop up in the future.

The simplest way to ensure that your wishes are followed once you pass away is to create a valid Will. This gives you comfort in knowing that your affairs are in order and also makes the process for your loved ones much simpler once the time comes to deal with your estate. If this is something which you would like assistance with, please do not hesitate to contact our Private Client team.