Section 34 Privy Council judgement

The judgement by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the conjoined matters of Steve Ferguson, Maritime Life (Caribbean) Limited and others & Ameer Edoo v the AG of Trinidad and Tobago was delivered on 25 January 2016. Here's a copy.

Joint Tenancy v Intestacy

Q:
Hello,

My intestate father died leaving his estate. Although you informed me that his wife gets half and the children the other half; if his properties were Joint Tenancy with his wife, are the children still entitled to half his estate?

Thanks,

Curtis

 

A: 

In a joint tenancy, intestacy rules do not apply. Instead, we must rely on the “right of survivorship”. Survivorship means that when a Joint Tenant dies, his/her heirs have no claim in the property because the property is left for the surviving joint tenants ONLY.

This is usually a problem when a step-parent comes into the picture and s/he doesn't have a good relationship with the children from a previous relationship - those children usually get nothing.