Inheritance & Estate Administration
Heir classes, wills, estate administrators, and the 1-year rule that quietly costs many heirs their rights.
On death the estate vests in the heirs at once, but to actually deal with it (transfer land, withdraw deposits) a court-appointed administrator is needed in almost every case.
We handle administrator petitions, removal of bad-faith administrators, partition suits, and will contests.
What this dispute is, and where it comes from
Disputes over dividing an estate, appointing or removing administrators, and contesting wills, usually because there was no will, the heirs span several lines, or one heir holds the assets and will not share.
Documents & evidence to gather first
- The death certificate
- Proof of heirship, registrations, birth certificates
- Every will, if any exists
- Deeds, accounts, vehicles, and other estate assets
- A family tree of the heirs
How we can help
Legal knowledge worth knowing
Six classes of statutory heirs, descendants, parents, full siblings, half siblings, grandparents, uncles/aunts, with the surviving spouse always an heir whose share follows s.1635.
An earlier class excludes later classes, except parents, who take equally with children.
Heirs and interested persons may petition for an administrator where the estate cannot otherwise be managed or divided.
Five forms of will, ordinary witnessed, wholly handwritten, public document, secret document, oral in emergencies, and form defects void the will (s.1705).
The writer and witnesses of a will, and their spouses, cannot take under it.
Supreme Court No. 1584/2546, an administrator of an estate cannot plead the one-year limitation of Section 1754 against an heir, because Section 1733 paragraph two provides specifically for the administrator's liability to the heirs, with a five-year period running from the end of the administration.
Limitation periods and deadlines you cannot miss
- 1 yrEstate claims, from death or the heir's knowledge of it (s.1754)
- 10 yrsAbsolute cap, no estate claim may be brought beyond 10 years from death
- 5 yrsClaims against administrators, from the end of administration
The above is a brief summary of legal principles for general knowledge only, not advice on any specific case. Statutes may have been amended and application always turns on the facts. Please verify the current law or consult an attorney before acting.