§ Ms OsborneTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to amend the current rules of intestate succession to allow surviving cohabitants or step-children who are neither the natural children of the deceased nor adopted by them to apply to a court for a discretionary provision out of the estate of the deceased. [57394]
§ Mr. McLeishThe Scottish Law Commission, in its 1992 Report on Family Law, recommended that a surviving cohabitant should be able to apply to a court for a discretionary provision out of the deceased's estate, whether or not there is a will. I hope to issue a consultation paper shortly on family law in Scotland, in which I shall be asking for views on this recommendation.
The Scottish Law Commission has also considered the position of step-children in the law of succession in Scotland, but did not make any recommendation on this in its 1990 Report on Succession. It did recommend that 482W city centre CCTV scheme. A final report has been submitted by the researcher and is currently being prepared for publication.