Channel 5 have announced a new Four-Part Psychological Thriller: The Fortune. The drama follows a lady who inherits a large sum of money from a man she has never met or heard of.
Whilst watching this type of show you might start to think (wishfully) about the likelihood of inheriting from someone you do not know ever happening to you. Most of us likely land on the same conclusion ‘that is not something that happens outside of world of tv drama’. However, the reality is that this does indeed happen, and more often than you might think.
So, how and why does this happen?
The first reason this may happen is due to the deceased not leaving a valid will. If there is no Will the estate would then be distributed per the Intestacy Rules. Under the Intestacy Rules, if the deceased has no surviving spouse, never had children (or they predeceased without having children), and no surviving parents, siblings or nieces/nephews, the rules look further back to all four of the deceased’s grandparents. In the common eventuality that those grandparents have already died, then the Intestacy Rules look back down all the branches of the family tree which descend from each of the grandparents until surviving relatives are located. This can mean that the connection to the deceased can be a remote one, e.g. inheriting from a cousin twice removed on your paternal side (i.e. your father’s, father’s, father’s, brother’s son). It could also be the case that the grandparents lived in another country and some of the family branches span national borders or that half-cousins come into the picture if only one grandparent is shared in the family tree following a divorce and second marriage.
Secondly, unlike countries such as France and Spain which have systems of ‘forced heirship’ where subject to complicated rules certain family members must inherit, England and Wales are governed by the principle of testamentary freedom. This broadly allows an individual to leave their assets completely as they intend without legal restraints on the selection of beneficiaries. Testamentary freedom can lead to situation, similar to that faced by the lead character in The Fortune, where you could find yourself inheriting from a stranger, such as remote relative, an estranged friend, an ex-co-worker or even someone they served in a local takeaway shop. So long as the deceased understood their decision making and its implications, they can leave their estate as they so desire.
How our team can assist:
Nockolds’ Wills and Trust Disputes team have experience in assisting personal representatives who are tasked with distributing an estate with little to no knowledge of the family the deceased leaves behind. The team can navigate you through instructing tracing agents to work on establishing and crucially verifying a family tree and when applicable, organising DNA testing to ensure a potential beneficiary that comes forward is verified as having an entitlement to share in the estate. DNA testing can overcome documentation gaps (if for example a birth certificate record omitted any details of the father when a potential inheritance stems from the paternal side) as well as information gaps where an individual’s identity or connection with a family is less than certain.
Conversely, if you understand you have a distant deceased relative and believe you would be a beneficiary under Intestacy Rules, but are struggling where to start, our Wills and Trust Disputes team can also advise you on your position.
Please contact the team on 0345 646 0406 or fill in our online enquiry form and we will be in touch.