Entitlement of once removed cousin

TomFreeman86

Can anyone help with this please..
 If someone dies and doesn’t have a will, and they were unmarried with no children, had no siblings, their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles have all previously died, their cousins all died before their death, would their cousin’s children (cousin once removed) be entitled to their estate under Intestacy laws in England? 

TonyMMM

Yes they could be ...if there are no surviving closer relatives.

TomFreeman86

I think I got that right... I think the best way to explain is that the closest living relative to the deceased, is the deceased father’s first cousin. That would make the relationship with the deceased first cousin once removed. I know that 2nd cousins aren’t entitled, but not sure about first cousin once removed??

JGB1955

 https://www.angliaresearch.co.uk/for-solicitors/intestacy-rules/#anchor8  indicates that direct descendants of the deceased's Aunts and Uncles can inherit..... but maybe that's not the relationship you're talking about!

TonyMMM

In England/Wales,  the basic rule is that you look at the deceased's grandparents (on both sides)  and anyone who is also descended from them is a possible beneficiary depending on who survives and in which generation.

So the deceased's Uncles/Aunts could inherit ....and if they are deceased then that passes down to their children e.g. cousins, and then if they are deceased to their children...

But these things can be complicated, so whoever is administering the estate needs to be sure they put together a full family tree and have accounted for all possible entitled relatives before distributing.

TomFreeman86

I think that has cleared it up. The closest living relative is the son of the deceased’s great uncle, ie cousin of the deceased’s father. Meaning the estate goes to the crown.