Jersey: Wills/ Intestacy/ Estate Planning

Modern trust structures face unprecedented challenges from aging populations, evolving family dynamics, and changing investment expectations. How can trustees navigate mental capacity issues...

Who is to be treated as a child for the purpose of construing how an offshore trust or will is supposed to operate?

Modern family structures have transformed the legal landscape of inheritance and trust law in Jersey and Guernsey. From blended families and adoption to same-sex relationships and surrogacy arrangements, determining who qualifies as a 'child' or 'issue' requires careful navigation of evolving legislation, historical distinctions between legitimate and illegitimate children, and the specific dates when trusts and wills were executed.

Under Jersey law, if a person has no Will of Jersey immovable estate (the Will), as soon as they die, their freehold property automatically passes to their heirs at law, being their natural beneficiaries.

For decades, the relationship between trustees and beneficiaries was defined by quiet deference – beneficiaries trusted their trustees, accepted decisions, and rarely questioned how trusts were managed.

When it comes to estate planning, many people assume that their stepchildren will automatically inherit from them in the same way as biological or legally adopted children.

Jersey's rules on the collateral succession of Jersey immovable property are about to undergo a major change as a result of the decision of the States of Jersey on 7 February 2024...

The Probate (Jersey) Law 1998 (as amended) introduced a ‘Fast-Track' procedure to obtain a Jersey Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration in estates where the deceased died domiciled in the British Isles...

Through our executorship company, Carey Olsen Executors Jersey Limited, we provide a professional estate administration service for family members...