A will

[codswallop]

An elderly lady, who is still living,has left to her only relatives,a niece and a nephew, her entire estate to be divided equally beteen them on her death Unfortunately the nephew has died if the will is not altered how will the estate be implemented????

[DocHH]

It rather depends on how the Will was written. It may specify that if one of the Beneficiaries predeceases her then that share goes to their descendants, if not then it will probably all go to the only surviving named benficiary.

[Buenchico]

If the lady dies 'partially intestate' the niece's share remains unaffected.

The nephew's share is subject to the rules of intestacy, which means that a 'pecking order' of the right to inherit that share has to be examined. However, when it comes to the point where a brother or sister of the deceased could inherit, the children of such a brother or sister will inherit that part of the estate if their parent is dead.

Since you've indicated that the niece is the only living relative of the elderly lady, the executor will apply the 'pecking order' until the point where the deceased brother or sister (who was the father or mother of the niece) would, had he/she still been alive, have been entitled to inherit. Since that person is also deceased, the entitlement passes to his/her children which, in this case, means the niece. So the niece will actually receive all of the estate.

However it might still be best to prepare a fresh will. To do so may well mean less hassle for the executor, plus it would also (as long as the will is properly drafted) cover the situation where the niece dies before her aunt. (As it stands, the Crown would get the whole of the estate under those circumstances).

Chris

[codswallop]

Thanks to you both ,only the two mentioned were named in the will,with no bequests to either of their families.

[Buenchico]

Now I'm a bit confused.

You originally stated that the elderly lady had only two relatives but now you're referring to 'their families'. If the deceased nephew had children, those children will get equal shares in what would otherwise have gone to the nephew.

[DocHH]

Chris,
In my humble opinion, the Will cites only the Niece and Nephew, not any of their issue. Therefore only the Nephew or Niece can inherit. If one has predeceased the Aunt, the other inherits the whole Estate. The Aunt is in no way "partially intestate".

[Buenchico]

The exact wording is important here, Doc.

If the will states "to be shared equally between my niece and my nephew" then the distribution will be a single share (i.e. everything) to the niece.

But if the will states "I leave half of my estate to my nephew and half of my estate to my niece" (and there is no reference to a residual beneficiary) then that part of the estate which would have gone to the nephew is not disposed of under the terms of the will. That would result in a partial intestacy.

However, on reflection, I agree that the nephew's children won't share the whole of what he was due to receive. That's because only his share (rather than the whole estate) would now be subject to the intestacy rules, with half going to the niece and half being shared between the nephew's children.

Chris

[codswallop]

Chris both you and Doc have made very good points and until I know of the correct wording it won't be resolved.Thanks again for making things much clearer.......I think!!!!