Succession Act 1965 section 120

Exclusion of persons from succession

Section 120 sets out the circumstances in which a person may be excluded from inheriting any share in a deceased person's estate, whether under a will, on intestacy, or as a legal right.

• A sane person guilty of murder, attempted murder or manslaughter of the deceased is barred from any share in the estate (unless a will was made after the offence) and cannot apply for court provision under section 117.
• A spouse or civil partner who deserted the deceased for two or more years up to the date of death loses any entitlement to a legal right share or a share on intestacy; conduct justifying the deceased in separating counts as desertion.
• A person convicted of a serious offence (one carrying a maximum sentence of at least two years) against the deceased, or against the deceased's spouse, civil partner or children, is barred from taking a legal right share or applying under section 117.
• Any share that an excluded person is barred from taking is distributed as though that person had died before the deceased.

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