Inheritance where there's no will

S

Sonny1

Registered User
Messages
16
My sister's husband died without making a will. There are two adult independent children. To administer the estate valued €1,000,000 can the children decline their 1/3 share and allow my sister to inherit all. What is the procedure for this? They will inherit all on her death as she has made her will. Is administering the estate more complicated than doing probate?
 
As there is no will, the estate will go into administration - someone must apply to the Probate Office for a grant of a Letter of Administration. This is similar to a Grant of Probate and involves as much work

The beneficiaries can renounce their entitlement but have no say over the destination of their renounced inheritence. The estate will be divided up amongst the remaining inheritors - it is not clear that there is only one from your description.

If your sister inherits the whole estate, there is no guarantee that the children will inherit when she dies. She can make a will but she can also remake another will and pass your estate onto whomever she wants.
 
Thank you jpd. That's very helpful. do you know how the children go about renouncing their entitlement please?
 
You should contact a solicitor to do this - it would not make sense to do this without a solicitor's help and advice as if it is done incorrectly, this could lead to bigger problems later.

The children could/should also seek independant professional advice so that everyone is fully cognizant of what they are doing. Sometimes actions taken in the heat of the moment, turn out to be detrimental in the long run
 
Does it need to be that complicated?

Adult children can agree not to (say) sell the family home until remaining parent has passed away; they don't have to renounce their inheritance.
 
Thirsty said:
Does it need to be that complicated?

Adult children can agree not to (say) sell the family home until remaining parent has passed away; they don't have to renounce their inheritance.
Click to expand...
They can indeed, but if they have partners, etc, the process can be decidedly tricky to say the least.
 
The estate is worth €1M. You need to get legal advice to ensure it is done properly
 
My father died about 20 years ago. My parents had wills leaving everything to each other. Nothing was done about his will at the time. As much because neither my mother nor any of the rest of the family thought of it or thought that it was necessary. A couple of decades on my mother dies and now her probate is into its second year because of various complications including the lack of probate in my father's case and the fact that the house remained in his sole name all these years. I just mention this by way of advice that you should probably get everything done properly and officially and not store up problems for a later date as we inadvertently did...
 
ClubMan said:
I just mention this by way of advice that you should probably get everything done properly and officially and not store up problems for a later date as we inadvertently did...
Click to expand...
So sorry for your losses and your ongoing issues.

If I may ask, what would have avoided the issues you are experiencing? I know I'm named as the Executor for both of my parents wills. While I didn't want to probe into details at the time because our mortality came home to roost. I would not be surprised if they both have done similarly.
 
I don't seem to be able to upvote your response.

But thank you for your response, hope things work themselves out for you and the family.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register