Intestate - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition intestate

Definition :

Intestate, one who has left no will. In regard to all the deaths before 1925, if he left no heir, his real property escheated (see ESCHEAT) to the Crown or lord of the manor, and his personal property was administered by a nominee of the Crown for the benefit of the Crown. The (English) A.E. Act, 1925, s. 51, abolished the old rules of descent, and the intestate estates of persons dying after 1925 are, with some exceptions, administered and distributed according to the provisions of that Act. See DISTRIBUTION and ADMINISTRATOR; WIDOW.

Swinburne, Godolphin, and others of the early writers on the subject apply the term to one who dies leaving a will, but not appointing an executor; the term testament being formerly applied only to a will which appointed an executor. See Swinburne, pt. 1, s. 1; and 1 Williams on Executors.

A person is deemed to die intestate in respect of property of which he or she has not made a testamentary disposition capable of taking effect. [Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (30 of 1956), s. 3(g)]