Research Report 13 (2006) - I give, devise and bequeath: an empirical study of testators' choice of beneficiaries (by J E Dekker and M V A Howard)
1. INTRODUCTION
Updates and background for this project (Digest)
BACKGROUND
1.1 If a person dies without a will or with a will that only disposes of part of his or her property, the part of the property that has not been dealt with will usually be distributed according to a set of statutory rules that apply to intestate estates. Different rules of distribution apply in different States and Territories across Australia.
1.2 The NSW Law Reform Commission is conducting a review of the law relating to intestacy as part of the work of the National Committee for Uniform Succession Laws. The National Committee was established by the Standing Committee of Attorneys General to review the existing State laws relating to succession and to propose model national uniform laws.
PURPOSE OF THIS RESEARCH
1.3 The Commission decided that, in framing recommendations relating to intestate estates, it would be useful to obtain information about the characteristics of both testate and intestate estates and also about how people who make wills choose to distribute their estates. This decision was made in light of studies that have informed recommendations for changes to the law of intestacy in other jurisdictions. These other reviews were considered useful in determining how people who do not write wills might have intended to distribute their property upon death.
1.4 This study involved a survey of 650 matters filed in the Probate Registry of the Supreme Court of NSW in September 2004. The survey elicited information concerning the demographic characteristics of the deceased persons, the nature of their estates and how they intended their property to be distributed.
THIS RESEARCH REPORT
1.5 This Research Report first sets out the methodology and parameters of the study in Chapter 2. This includes the process of data collection, an overview of the files examined and the characteristics of the deceased persons whose estates were studied. Chapter 3 details the results of the study, including the characteristics of estates with and without wills and, in the case of estates with wills, how the testators intended to distribute their estates. Chapter 4 discusses the results and compares them with similar studies conducted in other comparable jurisdictions. A consideration of the limitations of this type of study is also included in this chapter.
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