Disclaiming Will

Hi All,

Looking for some guidance on the following scenario.

A deceased person leaves their entire estate to their siblings through a will.
What happens in a situation were the all the siblings disclaim their interest in the will?

1. Do they become beneficiaries again under Intestacy rules as next of kin?
2. Or does it automatically skip the siblings since they disclaimed the will and instead executor tries to find the next of kin. e.g deceased persons brother?

Thank you all!

IANAL

You'd need to check the wording of the will.

But in general terms, this is my understanding.

Jack leaves property at 12 Anytown Road to his siblings Jane, Joe and John in equal shares.

John disclaims his inheritance; the 1/3 share falls into the residue pot.

Scenario 1: Jack leaves the residue of his estate to his siblings Jane, Joe and John. So Jane and Joe get 50% each of John's share.

Scenario 2: Jack leaves the residue to the Cat and Dog Home.

John's 1/3 share goes to the Cat & Dog Home.

Thanks,
But in my specific scenario, what if all siblings disclaim the will?
Do they get a second bite of the cherry under Intestacy rules.

E.g.
5 siblings named in person to get a 20% share of estate.
Sibling number 6 arrives into the world but the will is not updated.
In this situation can the 5 siblings disclaim the will and go down the intestacy route so that all 6 siblings get an equal share?

Thanks.

Once there is a valid will, intestacy doesn't apply.

You need to see what the will says in regards to the residue.

There's nothing to stop the five siblings handing over a % to sibling no. 6

I would say it depends on the wording. If it says I leave my estate equally to my nieces A B C D & E and another niece F is born later, she gets nothing. If the will says I leave it to all my nieces then 1/6th each.

In the first case If A to E all give up their share then it still cannot go to F as she is not a beneficiary. But I have no idea who it would go to, the person who disclaimed last? If A to D disclaim on a Monday then it all falls to E, she cannot disclaim a 100% share?
But what has actually happened so far, what does the will say and who has disclaimed so far?

Generally, you cannot rewrite - constructively or otherwise - the terms of a valid will post mortem.
A will is said to speak from the grave.
The beneficiaries of a valid will cannot convert a testate person's will in to an intestate scenario.

Beneficiaries might want to take their bequests and readjust between themselves if that is the problem.
However, that may carry tax implications that may not exist if they take their original bequests.

Beneficaries readjusting the bequest between themselves is a Deed of Family Arrangememt.

When you disclaim a bequest in a will you can not then dictate who receives the benefit.

Wondering if the original poster ever got a definitive reply on their query- if all the beneficiaries disclaim their interest in the residue of a will, do they get a second bite of the cherry under intestacy rules? Thanks!

Yes, they do, I think.

Consider this case: X, unmarried and childless, makes a will leaving his property Blackacre to his nephews A and B jointly. The Will sais nothing about any other specific asset, or about the residue of X's estate. When X dies, his estate contains Blackacre and a second property Whiteacre. Nobody disclaims anything.

Blackacre passes under the will to A and B in equal shares. Whiteacre passes under the rules of intestacy to whoever is entitled. That might be X's sibling or siblings; if he has no surviving siblings it might be A and B, or it might be A, B along with other nephews and neices. Or whatever — depends on what the family tree looks like.

Right. Suppose A disclaims the bequest of an interest in Blackacre. Blackacre will then go to B alone. What happens to Whiteacre will be unaffected, and A may still get a share in Whiteacre (unless he disclaims that also).

Now suppose A and B both disclaim their interest in Blackacre. The bequest of Blackacre fails entirely, and Blackacre now goes along with Whiteacre to whoever is entitled under the rules on intestacy, which may or may not include A and B. But if A and B would otherwise be among those who inherit from X under the intestacy rules, they won't be excluded on the basis that they disclaimed a bequest.