Distribution is the final stage of administering an estate: after the personal representatives have collected the assets and paid the debts and taxes, they must transfer what remains to those entitled. Getting this right matters because a personal representative who distributes carelessly — to the wrong person, in the wrong order, or before all liabilities are met — can be personally liable to make good the shortfall. As a solicitor, your job is to identify exactly what passes, to whom, in what order, and to use the protections the law provides.
This lesson covers:
- The Distributable Estate and Property Passing Outside It — what the PRs actually control and distribute, and which assets bypass the estate entirely.
- Types of Legacy and Their Failure — the four categories of gift, and how lapse and ademption cause gifts to fail.
- Survivorship, Forfeiture, Anti-Lapse and Divorce — the rules that defeat, redirect or save a gift when circumstances intervene.
- Conditions, Debts and Abatement — conditional gifts, the order assets are applied to debts, and what happens when funds run short.
- Protecting the Personal Representatives — advertisements, time limits, Inheritance Act claims and Benjamin orders.
- Disclaimers, Variations and Special Beneficiaries — refusing or redirecting gifts, and paying minors and bankrupts.
- Transferring Assets, Appropriation and Income — assents, appropriation, and entitlement to income and interest.