If someone has died without a Will and with no relatives close enough to inherit under Western Australian law, their estate passes to the Crown by escheat. The Act works through spouses, children and grandchildren, parents, siblings and their children, grandparents, uncles and aunts and their children before it ever gets there.
How far does the Act look before the estate goes to the Crown?
The Administration Act works through eleven items in order and the Crown takes only if every class above it is empty. The classes run:
- the spouse or de facto partner;
- the issue, meaning children and their descendants;
- the parents;
- brothers and sisters and their children;
- grandparents;
- uncles and aunts and their children; and
- the Crown, by way of escheat.
An estate reaches the Crown only if there’s no surviving family in any of the lists above. In these situations, we usually end up tracing long lost aunts, uncles and cousins who take the intestate estate.
See What are the rules of intestacy in Western Australia?
Is there anything else that can be done once the estate has escheated?
There is a practice of asking the State to make a discretionary payment out of an escheated estate on moral grounds. The factors that count look much like the factors in a family provision claim, including your financial position, the size of the estate, the nature of the relationship and any competing interests. We’ve acted in several of these matters, so get in touch if you need advice.
Frequently asked questions
Who applies if there’s nobody at all?
A creditor can apply and so can any other person the Court is prepared to appoint under section 25, so an estate with no living relative doesn’t simply sit unadministered. See What is Letters of Administration?
What happens to the house if nobody claims the estate?
It passes to the Crown with the rest of the estate. Escheat takes the whole of the intestate property, not the money alone, so real property in Western Australia goes the same way as the bank accounts.
We act in estates with no obvious next of kin
We administer intestate estates in Western Australia, including the ones in which the family tree runs out, and we trace the relatives who turn out to be entitled.
Call us on (08) 9220 4490. See what’s involved on our Letters of Administration service page.
Related: Administration Act 1903 (WA): executors and administrators
This article is general information about the law in Western Australia and isn’t legal advice. Your circumstances may turn on facts this article doesn’t deal with, so please get advice on your own estate.
