Succession Act 1965 section 115

Election between legal right and rights under a will and on partial intestacy

Section 115 sets out the choices available to a surviving spouse or civil partner when deciding between their guaranteed legal right share and any gifts left to them under the deceased's will or on intestacy.

• Where the deceased left a valid will covering the entire estate, the surviving spouse or civil partner must choose between taking whatever the will gives them or claiming their legal right share — they cannot have both, and if they fail to choose, they are deemed to take under the will.
• Where the deceased died partly with a will and partly intestate, the surviving spouse or civil partner must choose between their legal right share on the one hand, or their intestacy entitlement combined with any gift under the will on the other — again, failing to choose means they are deemed to take the intestacy share plus the will gift.
• If the surviving spouse or civil partner elects to take the legal right share, they may also accept any gift under the will that is worth less than the legal right share, with that gift counting as partial satisfaction of the legal right.
• The personal representatives must notify the surviving spouse or civil partner in writing of their right to elect, and the election must be made within six months of receiving that notification or one year from the first grant of representation, whichever deadline expires later.

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