Making a will takes such a small amount of time, yet there is
still a high proportion of people who die without leaving a valid
will, known as dying 'intestate'. Among them are high
profile and very wealthy people such as Prince and bestselling
author Stieg Larsson. Dying intestate means that your estate will
be dealt with in accordance with Jersey law and distributed
according to set rules depending on people's relation to you,
which could be quite different to how you would have wanted it to
pass. This can lead to issues, as the intestacy rules often do not
take into account the intricacies of a modern family.
In Jersey, assets are is divided into immovable assets (freehold
land and buildings, flying freehold and leased over 9 years) and
movable assets (money, chattels, shares, share transfer
properties). Different rules apply to the succession of each type
of asset on intestacy and these are set out in the Wills and
Succession (Jersey) Law 1993.
