LEGAL PROBLEM!!

HardimanJ

Purely academic legal problem - any suggested answers, case law, etc. would be appreciated.

David Smith dies intestate, leaving no spouse or issue. He lived all his adult life in London. His assets there consist of a house and considerable savings in a building society. In Ireland he kept a small holiday home, and also had a significant amount of savings in the Credit Union.

He has two sisters and a brother remaining, all of whom live in Ireland. Under the Succession Act, 1965, they shall inherit his estate in equal shares. However, the remaining brother, Niall, is ill. He is a bachelor and is being cared for by his sister, Jane. Niall fears that he will die before his late brother's estate is administered and wishes to make a will, leaving all his possessions, including his share of his late brother's estate, to Jane.

1. Has Niall the power to bequeath his share of his late brother's estate to his sister, Jane, before that estate has been administered and divided up?

2. If Niall makes such a will, and dies before his late brother's estate is administered, would that part of his will bequeathing his share in his late brother's estate to Jane, be valid? Would it apply to both the Irish and English portions of David's estate?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. This is purely for academic purposes and not a real life scenario.

eagle_&_bear

Ah you gotta love when it is land law assignment time :P

lawrose

Hi HardimanJ

There will be two grants of administration taken out in relation to David Smith's estate - an English grant and an Irish one. Each will deal with the respective property and assets in each jurisdiction.

The Succession Act 1965 deals with inheritance on intestacy for the Irish grant. I don't know the name of the relevant English act, but I think their intestacy laws are pretty much identical to ours, so his three siblings will inherit everything in the UK on the same basis as in Ireland.

1. Under Irish law, a beneficiary gets their inheritance from the date of death of the deceased. Therefore, Niall is already deemed to have a one third share of both the Irish and English estates of David Smith. He can make a will leaving all his property to his sister Jane without needing to make any specific reference to his impending share of David's estates. In other words, if Niall died tomorrow and the grants of administration issued after his death, Niall's estate will automatically receive his one third share. He survived his brother - it is not necessary for him to also live long enough for the grants to come through.

2. As per the above, Niall's will does not need to specifically refer to his impending share of David's estate. He just needs to make a will leaving everything to Jane, because you've stated that he wishes to leave her everything he already owns as well as whatever he is due to get from David. This will catch any assets he is to receive from David's estate, both the Irish and English ones.

Hope this helps.

Lawrose