Wills and intestacy

This page highlights some of the current parliamentary material available on wills and intestacy. This includes select committee reports, briefing papers on current legislation and other subjects produced by the parliamentary research services, and the latest Early Day Motions put down by MPs.

Standard Notes

Date	Description
22.05.2012	Regulation of will writers
	Although certain legal activities, known as 'reserved legal activities', may be carried out only by regulated legal professionals, such as solicitors and barristers, much legal advice, including will writing, may be delivered by people who are not subject to regulation. The previous Government decided against including will writing as a reserved legal activity in the Legal Services Act 2007 because it considered that evidence had not shown statutory regulation in this area to be necessary, and favoured voluntary regulation instead. This note deals with the law in England and Wales except where specifically stated.
02.03.2011	Estates of Deceased Persons (Forfeiture Rule and Law of Succession) Bill : Committee Stage Report
	This is a report on the House of Commons Committee Stage of the Estates of Deceased Persons (Forfeiture Rule and Law of Succession) Bill (the Bill). It complements Research Paper 11/07 prepared for the Commons Second Reading. The Bill is a Private Member's Bill. It was presented to Parliament by Greg Knight, through the ballot procedure, on 30 June 2010 as Bill 8 of 2010-11 and had its second reading on 21 January 2011. The Bill had a single sitting in a Public Bill Committee on 16 February 2011. No amendments had been tabled and there was no disagreement to any of the clauses. The Bill was reported without amendment. The Bill would, in certain circumstances, protect the inheritance rights of the descendants of people who have forfeited their inheritance by killing the deceased; or who have decided not to accept their own inheritance. Broadly, it would implement, with modifications, a number of the recommendations of the Law Commission in its 2005 report, The Forfeiture Rule and the Law of Succession. The Bill would extend to England and Wales.
18.11.2010	Draft EU legislation on succession and wills
24.05.2010	Inheritance tax and probate
	In 2003 the Government introduced a new Direct Payment scheme, to deal with a problem created by the interaction between the conditions placed on an estate before a grant of probate is issued, and the requirements to pay inheritance tax on that estate. This note describes the introduction of the new scheme.
05.03.2010	Obtaining a copy of a will
	Obtaining a copy of a will. By CATHERINE FAIRBAIRN. SN/HA/3194.

Research Papers

Date	Description
18.01.2011	Estates of Deceased Persons (Forfeiture Rule and Law of Succession) Bill
	The Estates of Deceased Persons (Forfeiture Rule and Law of Succession) Bill is a Private Member's Bill introduced by Greg Knight under the ballot procedure. The Ministry of Justice has indicated to Greg Knight that it will support the Bill and has assisted with drafting the Bill and the Explanatory Notes. The Bill would protect the inheritance rights of the descendants of people who have: • forfeited their inheritance by killing the deceased; or • decided not to accept their own inheritance. It would give general effect to the recommendations of the Law Commission in its 2005 report, The Forfeiture Rule and the Law of Succession, which were accepted by the Labour Government in 2006. Similar provisions to those contained in the Bill were included in the Draft Civil Law Reform Bill which the Labour Government published in December 2009. The Coalition Government is not proceeding with that draft Bill.
28.10.2009	Perpetuities and Accumulations Bill [HL]: Committee stage report
	Report on the House of Commons second reading and Bill committee stages of the Perpetuities and Accumulations Bill (HL) 2008-09. It complements Research Paper 09/78 prepared for Commons second reading. The Bill received cross-party support in Second Reading Committee and there was no debate in Public Bill Committee.
14.09.2009	Perpetuities and Accumulations Bill [HL]. Bill 145 2008-09.
	The Bill is the first to be considered under a new House of Lords procedure for Law Commission bills and would implement, with minor modifications, the recommendations of a 1998 Law Commission report on the rule against perpetuities and the rule against excessive accumulations. The rule against perpetuities sets a time limit, known as the perpetuity period, within which dealings with property which are to take effect in the future (such as a gift to a child who is not yet born) must occur. The Law Commission report considered that the application of the rule is now too wide: it applies, for example, to many commercial dealings which have nothing to do with the family settlements that the rule was designed to control. Moreover, it found that the existence of multiple methods for calculating the perpetuity period is complex and confusing. The Bill defines the circumstances in which the rule would apply. In general terms, it would only apply to rights under trusts. Other property rights would no longer be subject to the rule. Where the rule does apply, the perpetuity period would be 125 years. This period would generally apply prospectively only. The rule against excessive accumulations applies where a disposition carries a duty or a power to accumulate income. The rule places restrictions on the period of time during which income may be accumulated. The Law Commission found that there was no longer a sound policy basis for restricting settlors' ability to direct or allow for the accumulation of income, except in the case of charitable trusts. The Bill would therefore abolish the current rule for all non-charitable trusts. Charitable trusts would, however, be subject to a limit of either a 21 year period or the life of the settlor.

Select Committee Reports

Date	Description
09.03.2010	The EU's Regulation on Succession.
	European Union Select Committee (HL) report [Lords]