A close family relative is not a guarantee of an inheritance from them when they die. Nor is a verbal promise to remember us, no matter how genuine they seemed at the time. That’s because claiming from a deceased estate follows one of these two well-defined paths:
- Either the deceased left us something in a legal will.
- Or else their estate goes to their nearest relative(s).
We wrote about legal, valid wills on a previous occasion. This article is about making a claim from a deceased estate if there is no such document. The UK Government’s legal department offers a Bona Vacantia service, which means ‘vacant goods’ in Latin. Your first task is to find out where you are in order of priority, if at all.
Priority for Claiming From a Deceased Estate
A legal, valid will sets out how a deceased estate must be shared out. This includes the entire estate whether or not all assets are mentioned. However, if the person dies intestate (without a will) then everything is potentially up for grabs by qualifying relative(s).
This is the order of priority when claiming from a deceased estate per the official government website:
- Husband, wife or civil partner
- Children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and so on
- Mother or father
- Brothers or sisters who share both the same mother and father, or their children (nieces and nephews)
- Half brothers or sisters or their children (nieces and nephews of the half blood or their children)
- Grandparents
- Uncles and aunts or their children (first cousins or their descendants)
- Half uncles and aunts or their children (first cousins of the half blood or their children)
# Half blood means they only share one relative with the deceased, not both
Complications When Claiming From a Deceased Estate
If a relative higher up the order of priority would have qualified, but subsequently died, then any right is via them. You therefore need to speak to the person administering their estate to sort it out. That’s because the priorities remain as they were at the moment of death.
The Role of a Personal Representative in This
The Court approves a personal representative to deal with the affairs of a deceased person. Their duty is to share their estate with qualifying people after settling all their debts.
- If they died intestate without a will, then the Court grants letters of administration.
- However, if they left a valid, legal will then the Court appoints an executor instead.
# If a duly-appointed personal representative dies before they complete the task, then THEIR personal representative is responsible for finalising both estates.
Claiming Your Rights From a Deceased Estate
You should speak to the deceased’s personal representative and provide necessary evidence, if you believe you have an entitlement in their remit. However if there is no such person, then you do have a right to take charge of the situation yourself. Here’s how to go about it:
- Conduct a diligent search to prove your deceased relative did not leave a will.
- Prove your relationship by providing the relevant birth and marriage certificates.
- Satisfy the Court that any personal representative died by providing their death certificate.
- Prove any persons with higher priority died, by providing their death certificate(s) too.
Can a Non Blood Relative Stake Their Claim?
ILLEGITIMACY
Illegitimate children were born to parents who were not married at the time of their birth. The Family Law Reform Act 1987 repealed provisions preventing them from claiming from a deceased estate where there was no will.
That said, if the deceased person passed on before 4 April 1988, then only their spouse, children (or their descendants), and parents are on the order of priority list.
ADOPTION
UK law regards an adopted son or daughter as the legitimate child of the adopters under the Adoption Act (or foreign adoptions recognised by English law) both or which qualify them for the purposes of succession.
TIME LIMITS
The Bona Vacantia Department (BVD) generally only considers succession claims within 12 years of the death of the deceased person concerned. However, it does make the following exception to this principle:
The BVD will admit fully documented claims up to 30 years from the date of death, subject to no interest being paid on the money held, if the claim is received after the 12 year period above has run out. Fully documented claims be received within 30 years of the date of death.
If the BVD receives a claim whether fully documented or not, outside the 30 year time limit it will not be considered. If an incomplete claim is received, you must supply the documents required to complete the claim within the 30 year time limit or the claim will not be considered.
