Please explain who inherits your estate if you die without having made a
will. Does it pass to the State or can your family make a claim?
If you die without having made a will, you are said to have died intestate and your
property will be divided in accordance with the rules of intestacy as set out in the
Succession Act, 1965. This will mean that your property will pass to your closest
relatives. The rules must be applied strictly regardless of the needs or financial
circumstances of your next of kin. This can mean that adequate provision will not be
made for certain loved ones and that your property will not divided in accordance
with your wishes.
The rules for division of property on intestacy are as follows:
If the deceased is:-
1. Married/civil partner with no children: spouse/civil partner takes entire estate.
2. Married/civil partner with children: Spouse/civil partner takes two-thirds of the
deceased’s estate and the remaining one-third is divided equally between his
children. If a child has pre-deceased the parent his children (grandchildren) take
their parents share.
3. Single with no children: Parents take entire estate.
4. Single with children: Children share estate equally.
5. Single with no children and parents deceased: Brothers and sisters share estate
equally. The children of a predeceased brother or sister take their parents share.
6. Single with no children; parents deceased and brothers and sisters deceased:
Surviving nieces and nephews share estate equally.
7. Single with no children; parents deceased; brothers and sisters deceased; nieces
and nephews deceased: Estate will be divided equally between nearest relatives.
8. If no relatives can be traced then the deceased’s estate will pass to the State.