What if there is no Will?

If the deceased person did not make a Will prior to his or her death then the estate is distributed according to the rules of Intestacy.

Those rules provide for the estate to be divided amongst certain relatives in an order of priority, depending on the deceased person’s circumstances as at the date of death. For instance, if a person dies leaving behind children but no spouse then the rules of intestacy provide that the estate is to be divided equally between the children.

These rules obviously have no regard for the particular circumstances of the deceased, and in the above stated example a child with limited financial resources and disability will receive the same share of the estate as a wealthy child who had no contact with their parent for a number of years.

In NSW the Succession Act enables certain eligible persons to commence Court proceedings to alter the provision made under the rules of intestacy.

If you believe that you have been left out of a Will, or if there is no Will, then please get in contact with us by completing the online assessment by clicking here to receive a no obligation assessment of your circumstances by an experienced estates lawyer at no cost.

For a full list of the rules of intestacy which apply where the deceased person died without leaving a valid Will contact us.