Obligations to Spouses and Children
OBLIGATIONS TO SPOUSES AND CHILDREN
Spouses
In your will, you can leave your estate to whomever you wish, but your spouse has a legal right to some of it, whether that's stated in your will or not.
A husband or a wife of a deceased person is entitled to what is called a spouse's "legal right share" of the estate. This is 50% of the deceased's estate if there are no children, and is 33% if the deceased has children.
Children
But children do not have the same legal entitlement as the spouse. People are not obliged to leave anything to their children, once it can be shown that the deceased person cared for and provided for the child during his/her lifetime. Once this can be shown, a child will find it very difficult to challenge the terms of the will on the basis of unfairness if they have not been left anything in the will.
Seeking Private Client Advice
For further information, please contact Malcomson Law by calling 01 8744422 or complete an Online Enquiry Form. Your enquiry will be forwarded to a solicitor who specialises in the area of Private Client.