Rights of a Beneficiary of an Estate

A beneficiary of a Will is any person who is listed on the will as being entitled to receive a defined portion of the deceased person’s assets or income. If the person who has named you as a beneficiary dies, you will normally be contacted and made aware that you have been named as such. You may already know that you were listed as a beneficiary or you may not.

Beneficiaries of estates have certain rights which are protected by law.

Executor’s fiduciary obligation to beneficiaries
When entering into any discussion about the rights of beneficiaries in estates, a useful starting point is the nature of the relationship between beneficiaries and executors. An executor stands in a fiduciary relationship to all beneficiaries of the estate. Fiduciary simply means a relationship of trust. This relationship is central to the rights of beneficiaries and the obligations of executors in estates. The executor has been entrusted with the assets of the estate and the power to administer the estate for the benefit of the beneficiaries of the estate. The executor must therefore discharge his or her duties with due care and loyalty to the beneficiaries.

Beneficiaries are entitled to receive their entitlement within 12 months of the deceased’s death. If there is any delay in the beneficiaries receiving their entitlements, the executor must provide a reason for the delay.

Identifying a beneficiary’s interest in an estate
A beneficiary should be promptly informed of their entitlement under a Will or if there is no Will of their entitlement on the deceased’s intestacy (the rules governing the distribution of an estate in the absence of a Will).

When a beneficiary has not been properly informed of their entitlement the law provides beneficiaries with certain rights to access information relating to their entitlement. Those rights include a right to receive a copy of the Will. The executor of the Will does not have a legal obligation to invite all beneficiaries of the will to attend the will reading, nor are they legally obliged to provide the beneficiary with a full copy of the will, unless the beneficiary makes a formal request for the executor to do so.

Disputing a Will
In some cases, a beneficiary may believe that they have not received an adequate portion of the deceased person’s estate. This may be because they now have expenses to pay for on their own now that the deceased person is gone and their payout from the estate does not adequately provide for their situation. In this case, you may need to seek the advice and representation of a lawyer.

If you would like to find out mor about your rights and options as a beneficiary or if you would like to prepare a Will, Straits Lawyers are here to help. We are now offering an online package for Advance Care Directives and Wills. Simply purchase our package via this link: https://straits-lawyers.square.site/product/will-and-advance-care-directive-package-/13

Please note that this article does not constitute legal advice.