Leaving my boyfriend

If someone close to you dies without leaving a will, they are said to have died intestate. This makes claiming against their estate very difficult but it can be done. When someone dies intestate, there are legal guidelines about what should happen. Here's a brief overview to guide you through the process.

Seek Legal Help

The first thing that you should do if a relative dies intestate is to seek help from an experienced family law solicitor as soon as possible. Intestate cases can be very complex, so it's not something that you should attempt to pursue by yourself. Your solicitor will need to see all documents and other information that you have pertaining to the deceased's assets and their financial affairs.

Apply for a Grant of Letters of Administration

It is usually a close relative who has the legal right to deal with the deceased person's estate. In order to do this you will need to apply to your local Probate Registry for a Grant of Letters of Administration. Your solicitor will help you to do this.

The Grant can be presented to financial institutions as proof that you have the legal authority to obtain and distribute any monies that were held by the deceased. Before you can obtain a Grant, any inheritance tax that is due on the estate must be paid in full.

A Grant is not always required. This applies if the estate is of little value and contains no property, shares or land or if it is held in joint names where the whole estate passes to the surviving owner.

Know Who Is Entitled to the Estate

If the deceased was married or in a civil partnership and their spouse or partner is still alive, then everything goes to them, provided that the estate is of relatively low value.

Where an estate is worth a large amount, all personal items (household items, cars etc) will pass automatically to the deceased's partner or spouse, together with a limited amount of cash. 

The remainder of the estate will be distributed as follows:

• equally between any surviving children of the deceased (grandchildren if not)
• if there are no offspring, the surviving parents will receive a share
• if there are no parents or children, the deceased's brothers and sisters will receive a share
• if the deceased has no surviving close family, the spouse or civil partner will get everything
• in the event that there are no close relatives surviving, the estate will pass to more distant relatives, for example nephews, nieces, cousins etc
• where no relatives are surviving, the estate passes to the government

As you can see, sorting out the affairs of someone who has died without leaving a will can be very complicated. For this reason you should always seek the assistance of an experienced family law solicitor if you find yourself in these circumstances.