An outline of a how a gift over works in a will. A gift over in a will is when the person designated to receive it has died, the gift then passes over to a substitute person, if so named to take.The substitute beneficiary only inherits if the main beneficiary has already died, not survived the deceased or died before attaining a vested interest.
Increasingly, it is not always automatic that costs of challenging a will for more provision will be paid out of the deceased’s estate. Courts may take into account the conduct of the litigants towards each other in regard to their efforts in resolving their differences before hearing.
Why make a will and what can it do? Dying without leaving a will, or leaving an invalid one, is to die intestate. Dying intestate means property left by the deceased, their estate, is distributed according to the intestacy law. The intestacy law has been prescribed by legislation as the ‘default’ rules to apply in these circumstances. The problem is that the intestacy formula for distribution may not produce the desired outcome.