UK Law-Succession Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

UK Law-Succession - Coursework Example However, circumstances exist whereby the requirement of a grant can be waivered. In the first place, where the value of the estate is worth  ?5,000 or less, secondly, where the value of the estate is greater than ?5,000 but has neither a house, shares nor any bank account, with more than ?5,000. Further, a grant of representation will not be necessary where all houses, bank accounts and other assets had been under joint tenancy. The estate in question in this case is one that is above the value of 5000 and an asset in form of a bank account worth ?7800 thus making a grant necessary and not susceptible to the first two exceptions. It should however be noted that part of the deceased estate viz a house worth ?400,000 was jointly co-owned with the surviving spouse Andrea, broaching out a significant legal implication. Thus the issue is whether or not a grant of representation necessary in this case. W Swadling, ‘Property: General Principles’ poses that where two co-owners of a property, if they co-owned a house under joint tenancy then the surviving co-owner shall take ownership of the deceased share automatically through jus accrescendi regardless of any will or rule of intestacy. As such the property co-owned may not be subject to any grant of representation. ... The question that arises therefore in relation to the rest of the estate is what type of grant is accruable to whom and what share of the estate ought to be provided for the representatives. There exist three types of grants viz, grant of probate, grant of letters of representation and grant of letters of representation with Will annexed. A grant of probate only applies when the deceased has left a valid will appointing one or more executors to perform duties regarding the estate as provided by the will. Only the appointed have the right to ‘prove’ the Will. In the current case, Peter died without a Will and therefore no appointed executors and thus no one among the persons with interest to the estate can apply for a grant of representation to probate. Similarly, a grant of representation annexed with a Will, requires first that the deceased ought to have died with a valid Will, having appointed an executor but that the executor is unable or unwilling to apply for the gr ant then an applicant may be granted. Thus the type of grant that is applicable in this case is that called ‘grant of letters of administration’. This is because the deceased died intestate. The persons (or would be administrators) entitled to this grant are commonly one or more of nearest relatives alive. It is important to note that any of these types of grants could be classified as either general or limited grants. There exist two extensive procedures on how to apply for probate or administration. First is by way of employing a solicitor to undertake the process on the person’s behalf. Secondly is by applying on one’s self via the Personal Applicants Section of the Probate Office, or one of the District Probate Registries. One can