Last year the NSW government is brought in significant changes to laws that affect how an individual’s estate is divided if they die intestate (i.e. without a Will). Find out more about how this will affect you, your family or your loved ones if the unthinkable happens and they die without a Will.
Under the new intestacy laws, the concept of multiple spouses means that a person may be in a relationship with a married person and with one or more domestic partners at the same time.
Take the scenario of Bernard who died without a Will and how his family would be affected under the new laws:
• Bernard was married to Brenda and they had one child. They divorced.
• Bernard then married Sandra and they had two children. Bernard and Sandra separated.
• Bernard then entered a domestic partnership with Alice for five years, up until the time he died without a valid Will.
• As Bernard and Brenda divorced, their child is entitled to inherit (but not Brenda).
• As Bernard and Sandra did not divorce, Sandra and Alice share the estate, along with all Bernard’s children (from Brenda and Alice).
As you may imagine, this is fine if multiple spouses get on well but this is not always the case. If you would like to find out more about Intestacy you can read more on NSW Trustee & Guardian's website
here.