dividing property in intestate

if a property is intestate (ie my father left no will) and there is no spouse, 20% of the estate goes to government and the rest is divided equally amongst the living children...right??? can one child get more of a share than another or is it strictly equal?

No, the state doesn't take 20% off the top.

The property is divided equally amongst the children, and each child is then separately liable for Capital Acquisitions Tax. If one of the children died before the father, and has living children, these children take their parents share.

E.g Sam has 4 children - Tom, Dick, Harry and Mary
Harry has 5 children and dies before Sam.
When Sam dies, Tom, Dick and Mary get 1/4 share each, and Harrys children take 1/5 of Harrys share (1/20 each)

It's all set out in Section 67 the Succession Act, 1965.

can a child contest intestate? my sister is claiming that my father said she could have his house when he died, she moved into the house a year before my father died and is still there, she has making huge claims for works carried out to the house since my father died. Can she get a bigger share of the estate than the other children? all children alive (there are 3 of us including her). We all have houses, she doesn't. Will a judge look in favour of her.

can a child contest intestate?

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There's nothing to contest in intestate because there's no Will. Who inherits what is set out in Primary legislation.

There is nothing to contest, but the work done since your father died is another issue, and depending on the circumstances, your sister might be entitled to claim all or part of the expenditure from the estate. There is also the issue of the promise your father may or may not have made, but there's a horribly complex area of law behind that, so you need competent professional advice.

Get to a solicitor and get the estate administered properly, and do it soon rather than having the uncertainty hanging over the family.

Its interesting to wonder what a solicitor would advise on either side.

Lets say the one sister goes to a solicitor, cries her eyes out, explains how she has given up everything for Daddy and cared for him in his dying days, and that she has nowhere to go etc.,etc. Solicitor advises her that under the Rules of Intestacy, none of that matters and she is still in a better position than before as she is getting a share of the estate etc.,etc. She says is there nothing I can do? Well, solicitor says ( and is quite likely to say this is not recommended) you could get thick, dig your heels in, claim for work done as a debt on the estate , drag things out for years, work on the basis that the rest of the family won't have the nerve/inclination/interest in dealing with the problem and let you stay there forever or decide that they don't want their share or give you their share. Or you could buy out the rest of them.

Now, rest of them go to another solicitor and that solicitor says under the Rules of Intestacy, none of that matters and she is still in a better position than before as she is getting a share of the estate etc.,etc. BUT one or more of you is gonna have to grab the bull by the horns and take out a Grant and face up to the sister and sort the mess out and if you don't do that ( and a lot of families find it too hard to face down one disgruntled sibling) she could get thick, dig her heels in, claim for work done as a debt on the estate , drag things out for years, work on the basis that the rest of the family won't have the nerve/inclination/interest in dealing with the problem and let her stay there forever or decide that they don't want their share or give her their share. Or she could buy you all out.

What is even more interesting of course is what the parties decide to do now that they know the ramifications of likely actions.

mf

ya my sister was agreeing to sell initially and another 2 sisters were appointed administrators (in the angry sisters prescence). when the ball got rolling on the matter of the estate being sorted out she got fairly nasty, we've letters from her solicitor claiming compensation for minding dad, works carried out on the house without our knowledge etc. but when we ask her to furnish us with invoices, proof etc the claim vanishes and the next letter will contain another claim for compensation or expenses for other things. its going on close to 4 years now. just afraid a judgement will be made in her favour and may give her a larger portion than the rest of us

Might be worth telling her that with it going on 4 yrs, it could be the solicitors that benefit from the property.

she has making huge claims for works carried out to the house since my father died.

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Did she receive permission from the estate administrators to do this work? And was it necessary to keep the house in good repair?

Legally speaking, only the administrator(s) can authorise work on the house and it can only be in order to keep the house in good repair - it cannot be home improvements e.g. adding an extension.

Four years is too long to settle a simple intestate estate whereby all the siblings are due an equal share. Why are the administrators not getting on with things? Even if there is a dispute over repair bills, the house can still be disposed off and the amount that is in dispute can be held back from the proceeds until the dispute is settled.

Reading between the lines, this sister appears to be trying to delay everything with the intention of staying in the house and ultimately obtaining it by adverse possession due to passage of time and lack on action on the part of the administrators.