HC Deb 03 November 1998 vol 318 cc481-2W
Ms Osborne

To 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. McLeish

The 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 city centre CCTV scheme. A final report has been submitted by the researcher and is currently being prepared for publication.