Can my sister-in-law apply for a share of the family farm 10 years after my mother’s death? – The Irish Times.

My mother died 10 years ago and my brother died four years ago. My brother was married, had no family and had his own farm. His wife is now seeking her husband’s share of my mother’s estate.

My mother died without a will and suffered from dementia. Can the daughter-in-law pursue claims? She is not related and has no children. I’ve checked everywhere I can think of and nowhere can I say this is possible. If there were children, they would be entitled to their mother’s or father’s shares, if we were siblings, but we would not mention the daughter-in-law.

My brother never made any claims before handing over his mother’s property. Perhaps he would be a future beneficiary during his lifetime. In the deed of inheritance there is something like a mention of 50% of the inheritance from the husband.

Mr NW

Oh, this is a mess. And at first glance, this seems to be a textbook example of why “informal” arrangements made within families regarding inheritance, land, property, etc. are so dangerous. It’s also a wake-up call for hundreds of thousands of adults across the state who have never made a will.

Sexual intercourse is a legal concept with very clear rules about what should happen – and that doesn’t seem to have happened in this case. I have no idea what land is involved or what its value is, but I think your sister-in-law might have a solid case just because everyone just decided to let the sleeping dogs lie.

Normally, a daughter-in-law would have no automatic claim to the inheritance – either because she was left out of a will or, as in this case, if someone died intestate.

As you say, she is not related, which is reflected in the fact that anything your mother might have left in her will would be subject to the lowest of the three available tax-free bands – currently €20,000, but equal to a more modest €15,075 when ten years your mother died ago. Whether she has children or not would also be irrelevant unless there was a will that left something to their father who predeceased their mother, which was not the case here.

Therefore, if everything happened as it should, your sister-in-law would have no claims against her mother-in-law’s estate. But since everyone, for some reason, has decided to stick their heads in the sand and do nothing to settle your mother’s affairs, she may now have the right to do so.

When someone dies without a will, a close relative will usually apply to the court for administrative powers – the legal power to manage the affairs of a person who has not left a will or where the will is invalid. The Court’s decisions provide that “persons having an interest in the estate of a deceased person are entitled to a grant of administration in the following order of priority.”

At the top of the list are spouse or civil partner, child, children of a predeceased child, parent, sibling, children of predeceased siblings, nephews and nieces, grandparents, uncles and aunts, great-grandparents and then “other next of kin (full or half-blood) So basically anyone who may have a claim to inheritance under the Inheritance Act.

If the application is made by more than one person from the same group, the court will determine who should be liable. If no one applies, the state can appoint someone, or the estate’s creditor (the person who owes your mother money) can apply for letters of administration or have a lawyer do it.

If you can, there is no room for a father-in-law – a person not related to your mother.

However, Irish law does not provide for the who process to be simply ignored, which appears to be the case here. Before the Inheritance Act was introduced, as I understand it, although it was well before my time, it was quite common practice to simply pass land to the firstborn, but this situation returned before 1963 and certainly does not apply today.

I suspect, although I cannot of course be certain, that you and your brother have decided between yourselves that you will have control of your mother’s land without any formal process.

This could work if your mother left a will leaving the land to him, but in the absence of such a will, how the estate is passed on to her is determined by law. And in this case, where it appears that there were two sons – you and your now deceased brother – the inheritance should be divided equally between you. You can’t choose otherwise.

Could this have happened and your dead brother gave you his share? Sure, although it would probably have tax consequences for you.

Could he formally renounce his claims? I haven’t heard of this being the case with intestacy, but I see no reason why it shouldn’t be possible.

However, the key thing in each of these scenarios is that there would be a formal paper trail available.

If that were the case, your sister-in-law would have achieved nothing with her claim. However, if you and your brother simply ignored the Inheritance Act and the requirements for dealing with your mother’s estate in the six years before your brother’s death, she could find a lawyer willing to argue that she has a claim for unreasonable delay in your share and/or your brother.

Her argument would probably be that if the estate was administered within a reasonable time frame, her husband would inherit half of your mother’s estate, which could then pass to her upon his death – assuming that his will, if he has one, makes her generally his beneficiary. Even if he dies intestate, if he has no children, she will be the sole beneficiary of his estate.

The 50 percent rule you are talking about in inheritance law is, I believe, the statutory share. This means that your sister-in-law is entitled to at least half of her husband’s estate. This only really applies if there is a will that leaves her less than this share. Under the statutory will, she will receive at least two-thirds of his estate, even if they have children. Either way, it doesn’t matter in this case.

And just to clear up the loose ends, your mother’s dementia doesn’t matter either. Either she made a will before she became incapacitated, or her estate will be treated as intestate, as is the case here.

So, as I mentioned at the beginning, it is chaotic. Really unnecessary. You and/or your brother could have settled your mother’s estate many years ago and then made any arrangement between you and them under tax law. However, if you argue that neither of you have done anything in ten years regarding your mother’s affairs, but regardless that your sister-in-law should have no claim, I suspect that can be disputed.

And that could be costly, regardless of who ultimately wins.

In fact, it has long been a long time since people in Ireland wised up and realized that in the event of death and the transfer of family assets, the law cannot simply be ignored. And your situation is a good example of why.

Please send your inquiries to Dominic Coyle, Q&A, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street Dublin 2 or by email to [email protected] with a contact telephone number. This column is a reading service and is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice