XXIV Jon. I 2014 (Inheritance)

The Purpose of this Act is to codify the law on wills and inheritance to bring it into line with British law on the same subject so as to provide for those British citizens living in Austenasia who have already made provision for inheritance based on British legislation. In accordance with said Purpose, Subsection G of Paragraph 8 of XVIII Dec. I 2012 (Property) is hereby repealed, the provisions therein to be replaced by the remainder of this same Act.

Personal and/or private property may be transferred to a new owner by means of inheritance upon the death of its owner. This can take place either via a will, or under the provisions of Paragraph 6 of this same Act.

For inheritance to take place via a will, the owner must have written a valid will before their death. A will is a written document willingly made by a person of sound mind (that is, they are fully aware of the nature of the document being written and signed, and aware of their property and the identity of the people who may inherit) who is at least 18 years of age, in the presence of two witnesses who sign it after the person making the will has signed it (to confirm that they have seen them sign it), to specify to whom they wish their property to go to via inheritance upon their death. The two witnesses cannot inherit property under the will; if one or both witnesses are named as a beneficiary, the remainder of the will shall still be valid but they shall not be able to inherit property from it.

Although it will be considered legally valid even if it is not dated, it is advisable to ensure that a will contains the date on which it is signed. As soon as a will is signed and witnessed, it becomes legally binding. A will may be revoked by being burnt or utterly destroyed by some other means by the person who signed it (not by a witness).

A will must specify an executor, and others to stand in as executors if the first choice is unable to do so. The executor is responsible for collecting any and all of the personal and private property of the person who made the will, for paying any outstanding debts from it, and distributing the remainder in accordance with the instructions in the will. Executors may not be obstructed in their payment of any outstanding debts owed by the deceased; upon completion of this process, the remainder of the property owned by the deceased shall immediately become the property of those people specified in the will.

Should a person have died without having a valid will, their property can still be obtained by a new owner via inheritance. Should a deceased person with no valid will have been married, then their spouse will inherit all of their personal and private property so long as the latter is valued at less than £250,000.

1. Should the private property be valued at more than £250,000 and the deceased person has surviving descendants, the spouse will inherit their personal property, the first £250,000 of the private property, and a life interest in half of the remaining private property. The other half of the private property will be inherited by the descendants of the deceased as if they were inheriting under Subsection C of this same Paragraph – they will also inherit the half held with life interest by the spouse upon the death of the spouse.

2. Should the private property be valued at more than £450,000 and the deceased person has surviving parents but no surviving descendants, the spouse will inherit their personal property, the first £450,000 of the private property, and half of the remaining private property. The same shall apply to siblings if the deceased person has no parents, and to uncles and aunts (that is, those related by blood) if the deceased person has no parents or siblings. Whether parents, siblings, or uncles and aunts inherit, in all cases the property shall be divided out equally between them.

3. Should a deceased person with no valid will not have a living spouse at the time of their death, all of their personal and private property will be inherited by being shared out equally between any living children. If there are no living children, then it will be shared out equally between any living grandchildren; if there are no living grandchildren, then it will be shared out equally between any living great-grandchildren; and if there are no living great-grandchildren, then it will be shared out equally between any living great-great-grandchildren.

In regards to Paragraph 6, Subsection A of this same Act, to hold life interest in property means to have all rights of ownership over said property except for the rights to transfer the property to others and/or to destroy and/or permanently alter it (to permanently alter it including to mine or otherwise remove minerals found beneath it in the case of private property, but not including to remove a sustainable amount of produce from farmland, orchards, et cetera).

Those under 18 years of age cannot inherit property until they become 18 years of age or get married – until that time, property inherited by them will be held in trust by their closest family member.

Upon the death of a person, any property jointly owned with another person or persons will immediately become the sole property of the other joint owner or owners.

Should a person die with no valid will or without any relatives referred to in Paragraph 6 of this same Act, the Monarch shall choose who shall become the new owner or owners of their property after ensuring all debts owed by the deceased person have been paid.

Any disputes over the validity or interpretation of a will, the valuation or division of property, or in regards to Paragraph 8 of this same Act the identity of one’s closest family member shall be decided by the judge of the Town Court (with appeals to the respective High Court permitted) of the Town in which the deceased person lived (or that closest to their residence, in the case of those living outside Austenasia), with decisions made to be confirmed by the Consuls. [This Paragraph has been repealed – see XXXI Jon. I 2014, Paragraph 3]