Continuing our law link series, Alex O’Neill Solicitors replies to one of the queries received at Lawlink@alexoneill.ie.
“My Father left everything in his will to my two Sisters and nothing to me surely I am entitled to a share in his Estate also.”
Q. I am a 34 year old man who recently lost my father. My mother died almost 14 years ago. I have two sisters and my father left everything to them in his Will and left me nothing. Both my sisters are married and have their own houses. I, on the other hand, have never managed to get on the property ladder and was living in the family home with my father at the time of his death. My sisters say that they intend to sell my father’s house because they need the money. This will leave me homeless. Surely I am entitled to some of my father’s Estate!
Dear Reader,
A. The short answer is that you are not automatically entitled to share in your Father’s estate. Most people are unaware that children do not have any automatic legal entitlement under a will as such your father had the right to leave his property to all or any of his children and he was not obliged to provide for you. In law there is no obligation on any parent to leave anything to their children. However, your father provided for your sisters in his will and not you and the fact that he did not provide for you may be subject to challenge on the grounds of so called “proper provision”. This is largely dependant on the individual circumstances of the family and whether you were treated fairly.
If you believe that your father failed in his moral duty to make provision for you, whether by Will or otherwise then it is open to you to take a Court action against the Estate under Section 117 of the Succession Act, 1965. If you decide to go this route in assessing your claim the Court will look at a number of criteria including the number of children, their ages, their position in life at the time of your father’s death, your father’s assets, your age and your financial position and prospects in life. The Court will also of course take into consideration whether your father had already throughout his lifetime made provision for you e.g. did your father gift you money throughout your lifetime, did he send you to College, did he send your siblings to College. What the Court will try to weigh up here is did your father treat you in an equal and fair manner as your other siblings and according to your needs and circumstances.
I am not sure how long ago this happened but you should note that time limits for processing a Section 117 case are very strict and the period within which to lodge an application is only 6 months from the date of death. If you feel that you have been hard done by so to speak both throughout your life and in relation to provisions of your father’s will then you should immediately contact your solicitor in relation to the matter.
Your questions
Send your legal queries to lawlink@alexoneill.ie or by post to Alex O’Neill Solicitors 22 Barrington Street, Limerick. We aim to deal with a representative sample of queries received. The column is a reader’s service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into.
