The Kings Court Trust Blog

Following a bereavement, there are a number of tasks to be considered which can make an already difficult time even more challenging. Unfortunately, these tasks can often be complex and can include dealing with complicated legal and tax affairs. The process of dealing with someone’s affairs after they have passed away is known as estate administration, which is often misunderstood with the term probate. Although both terms are associated with the same process, they each have different definitions.

In February 2020, the heartbreaking news broke that Caroline Flack, the popular TV and radio presenter, best known for presenting Love Island, sadly took her life at the age of 40.

Aretha Franklin died on the 16th of August 2018 at the age of 76 after an ongoing battle with pancreatic cancer. Recent news reports have now revealed how a handwritten Will has been discovered under a sofa cushion in the Queen of Soul’s home in Detroit. To ensure the Will’s validity, it is being examined by a handwriting expert.

After a near six decades in the spotlight, Aretha Franklin has died at the age of 76, reportedly without leaving a Will. The Queen of Soul passed away at her home in Detroit on Thursday the 16th of August, after an on-going battle with pancreatic cancer.

If a person dies without any known blood relatives and without leaving a Will, it is the Bona Vacantia division of the Treasury Solicitor’s department that is tasked with administering the estate.

The value of assets owned by Britons who die intestate has nearly doubled in just a year, which means that the estates of more and more people are being transferred to HM Treasury.

A High Court judge has ruled that the will of an 80-year-old woman, which left her inheritance to her closest friends, is invalid after concluding that she was mentally unstable when conveying her final wishes, the Daily Mail reported.

An estimated 60% of Scottish people who die each year have not written a Will, leaving behind a yet-to-be claimed pot of assets including cash, pensions, property and investments.

Although we are free to make a will so that, when we die, we can leave our assets to whoever we like, we are also free to die without having made a will – or intestate – so that the state decides how our estate will be divided up. Either way, if we leave behind people who need and could reasonably expect financial help from our estate, the law can step in to make sure they get it under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. The intestacy rules in England and Wales are set out in the Administration of Estates Act 1925 and have not materially changed since their creation. Nick Beetham looks at amendments proposed by The Law Commission after exhaustive research and consultation.