Basic Advice re my mum and inheritance law
Patb
cousins, are the closest living blood relatives. 11 other cousins
previously died (so there were at one time a total of 14 cousins). Is
she entitled to a 1/4 of the inheritance (on the basis that she is one
of 4 closest living relatives) or is the total divided into 14 and the
children of the 11 other cousins (ie second cousins) share a 14th of
the total and my mum receives a 14th,
Grateful for any advice as I have no idea and some advice on the legal
websites seems to indicate that 1st cousins are as far as the system
goes before going to the state,
Many Thanks
tim....
"Patb" <pat.be...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:962ef26f-395f-463e...@k17g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
> My mother's cousin has passed away. She, together with 3 others
> cousins, are the closest living blood relatives. 11 other cousins
> previously died (so there were at one time a total of 14 cousins). Is
> she entitled to a 1/4 of the inheritance (on the basis that she is one
> of 4 closest living relatives) or is the total divided into 14 and the
> children of the 11 other cousins (ie second cousins) share a 14th of
> the total and my mum receives a 14th,
Where an intestate estate is distributed and some of the qualifying
relatives have died, then the entitlement of the dead relations is inherited
by their children, (assuming that they have some). (so your mother will
inherit 1/14th share)
(BTW your cousin's children are not your mother's 2nd cousins, they are your
2nd cousins)
tim
Mouse
You don't actually say whether your mother's cousin left a valid
will. If she did, then her assets go wherever the will specifies that
they go - the fact that your mother is her closest surviving relative
is completely irrelevant.
If the cousin didn't leave a will - in other words, if she died
intestate - then the estate will be distributed according to the rules
of intestacy. The rules are slightly different in England & Wales,
Scotland, and NI - but I'm not sure whether those differences will
affect your mother.
You also don't say whether the cousin had a spouse/civil partner - if
she does, then although the spouse is not a blood relative they will
be entitled to something.
Ste
Essentially the nearest ancestor with a surviving bloodline will
receive the inheritance. If your mother and her "cousins" are all
first cousins, then the common ancestor is your mother's grandparent.
It will filter down from there in equal shares to each generation - if
any bloodlines are dead-ends (i.e. no surviving descendents), then
they are disregarded.
In other words, all 14 cousins will receive 1/14th share in principle.
However, you say 11 cousins are dead. If any of the dead cousins have
living descendents, then that 1/14th share will go to them. If the
dead cousins have no living descendents, then they are disregarded.
So, if 5 of the dead cousins have living descendents, and 6 do not,
then your mother can expect to receive 1/9th of the inheritance.
However, you seem to suggest all 11 dead cousins have children. These
are not your mother's second cousins, but first cousins once removed.
Each first cousin once removed will share their parents (i.e. the dead
first cousins) inheritance between themselves and any of their
siblings.
If all 11 dead cousins have children (no matter how many), then your
mother will receive 1/14th. The first cousins once removed will share
1/14th between themselves and any siblings (so if one particular first
cousin once removed has 2 siblings, then they will receive 1/42nd,
whereas another first cousin once removed who has no siblings will
receive 1/14th).
Patb
Many thanks for the quick and very helpful replies, you explain it
better than many websites do.
1/14th it is,
Ste
Lol. If my reply was better and you actually understood it, then I
dread to think of the standard of these other websites.