When no will is left by a deceased person they are said to have died intestate. Dying intestate means no will is left setting out what is to be done with the deceased’s property. Who is entitled to take their estate?
The Magna Carta, sealed under oath by King John at Runnymede, England in 1215, became part of English law, and subsequently adopted into Australian law.
A family tree outlining close family/next of kin relationships is useful in preparing to make a will, and as a reference in situations of intestacy.
Intestate means dying without a will. But sometimes even if a person has left a will there may be a partial intestacy. This is when the will does not effectively dispose of all of their property. If that happens the identified property falls into the residue of the estate and distributed according to what the person’s will states about disposal of the residue, and if silent, then according to the statutory intestacy rules. Read more on dying intestate. >>
If a deceased person has not left a will or if no document appearing to be a will can be found, they are said to have died intestate.