Succession Act 1965 section 70

Shares of next-of-kin

Section 70 deals with how an intestate estate is distributed among next-of-kin when there are no close relatives surviving.

• This section applies only where the deceased left no spouse, civil partner, children, parents, brothers, sisters, or children of deceased brothers or sisters.
• In such cases, the entire estate is divided in equal shares among the next-of-kin.
• Among more distant relatives (collaterals), the principle of representation — where descendants step into the shoes of a deceased relative — generally does not apply.
• The one exception to the rule against representation is that children of deceased brothers and sisters may represent their parent, but only where another brother or sister of the intestate is still alive.