Will issue when not legally separated

[thetowen]

Short version of the story is my parents where separated for a number of years. My father bought his own house, while my mother lived in the family home. Recently my father died and left a will, splitting equally all his assets between his kids. However on a visit to the solicitor, he has informed me that my mother is entitled to the home house which is fair enough however, he also informed me she is entitled to half of all his assets even though not named in the will because they were not legally separated. Did a bit of research on this and was wondering does the "Succession Act" not cover this, which states that the spouse is only entitled to a third of the assets??
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1965/act/27/section/111/enacted/en/html#sec111 .
Just wondering is there something I'm missing?

 

[Thirsty]

Does that section apply where there is no will?

 

[NoRegretsCoyote]

Does that section apply where there is no will?

No, where there is no will the surviving spouse is entitled to a 2/3 share if there are children and 100% if no children.

If there is a valid will the protections for the surviving spouse are different. Your late father must have had very bad legal advice if he made a will leaving 100% of his estate to his children while not getting legally separated or divorced.

 

[thetowen]

So would I be correct it should only be a third and not a half as there is a will???

 

[mf1]

There's quite a lot going on there!

If the family home was in joint names, it passes outside the estate.

After that, on the face of it, the wife has a one third entitlement to what's in the estate.

Is it possible that there was ever a Separation Agreement- where the parties waived their Succession Act rights?

Or that the wife would disclaim her right?

Or that the legal personal representative could seek to use the provisions of Section 120 (2) of the Act?

(2) A spouse against whom the deceased obtained a decree of divorce a mensa et thoro, a spouse who failed to comply with a decree of restitution of conjugal rights obtained by the deceased and a spouse guilty of desertion which has continued up to the death for two years or more shall be precluded from taking any share in the estate of the deceased as a legal right or on intestacy.

And, on this:

Your late father must have had very bad legal advice if he made a will leaving 100% of his estate to his children while not getting legally separated or divorced.

Askaboutmoney never gets the full picture- lord only knows what the client said or the solicitor told him. Many clients choose to only tell, hear and do what they want to.

mf

 

[cremeegg]

a decree of restitution of conjugal rights

Where can I get one of these.

 

[thetowen]

"Is it possible that there was ever a Separation Agreement- where the parties waived their Succession Act rights?"
No there was never any type of Separation Agreement.

"Askaboutmoney never gets the full picture- lord only knows what the client said or the solicitor told him."
Also totally agree with this statement as well but the solicitor would have known that he was separated. My dealings with the solicitor would lead me to believe he is useless hence my initial question.
Thanks everybody for the help I'll get back on to him to clarify the position.

 

[Bronte]

Seems pretty clear the mother has all the legal rights here and the son if he were wise would not even dream of starting down a legal route to try and change things.

Also the OP should know that he does not have to use the solicitor who drafted the will for the probate. And he should get a quote in writing for the work.

Looks very much like the mother gets the family home outright. And then 1/3 of everything else.