Definition of Assets;
- Moveable estate is Money, Shares, Cars, Furniture and Jewellery.
- Heritable estate is Land and Buildings.
Note; any share of the “Moveable Estate” is after debts have been paid and any “Prior Rights” of a spouse have been settled.
Intestacy Rules for Scotland; i.e. not making out a Will.
Where there is no Will, the Spouse has “Prior Rights” to the estate. This is a first legal claim on the estate before “Legal Rights” as below. The spouse and the children then have “Legal Rights” to shares of the deceased’s moveable estate.
Deceased, survived by Spouse and Children;
1. Prior Rights, Spouse Gets;
- Interest in Dwelling House or a Cash (value up to £473,000)
- Furniture and Furnishings (value up to £29,000)
- Plus Cash (value of up to £50,000)
2. Legal Rights, Moveable Assets (balanced remaining) are shared;
- One third to surviving spouse
- One third to children (or their issue) equally
- One third (being distributed through Free Estate)
3. Free Estate i.e. all estate remaining after Debts, Prior Rights and Legal Rights;
- All to children (of their issue) equally
Deceased,survived by Spouse but no Children;
1. Prior Rights, Spouse Gets;
- Interest in Dwelling House or a Cash (value up to £473,000)
- Furniture and Furnishings (value up to £29,000)
- Plus Cash (value of up to £89,000)
2. Legal Rights, Moveable Assets (balanced remaining) are shared;
- One half to surviving spouse
- One Half (being distributed through Free Estate)
3. Free Estate i.e. all estate remaining after Debts, Prior Rights and Legal Rights;
- If Parent’s and Brothers and Sisters alive;
i. One half to Parent’s jointly
ii. One half to Brothers and Sisters, otherwise; - If Brothers and Sisters alive but no Parent’s;
i. All to Brothers and Sisters equally, otherwise; - If Parents alive but no Brothers and Sisters;
i. All to parents jointly, otherwise; - If no Parents and no Brothers and Sisters;
i. All to Spouse
Deceased,survived by Children but no Spouse;
- Prior Rights (not applicable)
Legal Rights, Moveables (balance of remaining estate) are shared;
- One half to Children (or their issue)
- One half (being distributed through Free Estate)
Free Estate i.e. all estate remaining after Debts, Prior Rights and Legal Rights;
- To Children (or their issue equally)
Deceased, no Spouse and no issue;
- Prior Rights ( not applicable)
- Legal Rights ( not applicable)
- Free Estate i.e. all estate remaining after Debts, Prior Rights and Legal Right;
- If Parent’s and Brothers and Sisters alive;
i. One half to Parent’s jointly and
ii. One half to Brothers and Sisters, otherwise; - If Brothers and Sisters alive but no Parent’s;
i. All to Brothers and Sisters equally, otherwise; - If Parents alive but no Brothers and Sisters;
i. All to parents jointly, otherwise; - If no Parents and no Brothers and Sisters;
i. All to Uncle and Aunts, but if none
ii. All to Grandparents, but if none
iii. All to Grandparents, Brothers and Sisters, but if none
iv. All to remoter relatives, but if none
v. To the Crown
If a deceased has made out a Will (Scotland) then;
- Prior Rights (as above) do not apply
- Legal Rights (as above) do apply (even if the Will is instructed to the contrary)
- However, a Spouse or Child exercising their “Legal Rights” cannot have a gift from the Will plus their “Legal Rights”. They must choose, one or the other.
The Will is only concerned with the estate after “Legal Rights” have been settled unless those “Legal Rights” have been relinquished, perhaps in favour of a larger gift from the Will.
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