Succession Act 1965 section 75

Construction of documents

Section 75 explains how references to the old Statutes of Distribution (the previous rules governing how an intestate person's estate was divided) should be interpreted in wills and other legal documents, depending on whether those documents came into effect before or after the commencement of the Succession Act 1965.

• References to the Statutes of Distribution in documents made or wills taking effect after the Act commenced are to be read as references to the intestacy rules in Part VI of the Succession Act 1965, unless the document states otherwise.
• References to "statutory next-of-kin" in such post-commencement documents are to be read as referring to the persons entitled to inherit under the new intestacy rules, unless the document indicates otherwise.
• References to the Statutes of Distribution in documents made or wills taking effect before the Act commenced continue to refer to the older distribution laws that were in force immediately before the Act, excluding the Intestates' Estates Act 1954.
• In all cases, the document itself can override these default rules of interpretation if it expressly states a different intention.