§ Mr. StephenTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to implement the recommendations in the Law Commission's report No. 187 on distribution on intestacy.
Mr. John M. TaylorThis report contains a number of recommendations. The Government have not accepted the first recommendation, namely that a surviving spouse should in all circumstances receive the whole of the intestate's estate. The Government have, however, decided to accept the Commission's other recommendations, which concern the "hotchpot" rule, survivorship clauses and provision for cohabitants, and will introduce legislation to implement them when a suitable legislative opportunity occurs.
The Government are concerned to provide additional protection for a surviving spouse in order to enable him or her in the great majority of cases, where the size of the intestate's estate permits it, to remain in the former matrimonial home and to have a sufficient surplus on which to live. To this end the Lord Chancellor will make an order as soon as practicable to increase the statutory legacy payable to a surviving spouse on intestacy from £75,000 to £125,000 in the case of the lower legacy, and from £125,000 to £200,000 in the case of the higher legacy.