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next of kin
my father lives alone and is twice divorced. Who is legally his next of kin. My brother and I are both adopted and my fathers 2nd marriage resulted in two blood children. As I am the eldest, an I his next of kin?
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His next of kin need not even be a family member - it can be whomever he chooses.
This site is primarily aimed at cohabiting couples but it does have a 'next of kin' card where a person can nominate their next of kin
http://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/default.aspx?top_n av_id=1&tab_id=278
This site is primarily aimed at cohabiting couples but it does have a 'next of kin' card where a person can nominate their next of kin
http://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/default.aspx?top_n av_id=1&tab_id=278
'Next of kin' has little meaning in law. Your father could nominate anyone he likes (including a total stranger) as his 'next of kin' (for most purposes) by simply filling out a form.
If your father leaves a will, he can leave his estate to whoever he likes and name anyone he chooses as his executors. (I'm assuming that none of his children are still minors or otherwise legal dependants of your father). So the question of 'next of kin' is entirely irrelevant when it comes to distributing his estate.
If your father dies intestate, there is a 'pecking order' defining who is entitled to apply for 'letters of administration' (which would allow them to distribute his estate in accordance with the intestacy rules). Assuming that he's not re-married, leaving a surviving spouse, his children would jointly lead the list of people entitled to apply for letters of administration. Any one of the children (or a group of them acting together) could apply for letters of administration. Adopted children are regarded in exactly the same way as biological children but the order of birth (or adoption) is irrelevant. The person (or group) granted letters of administration would have to ensure that, after the payment of expenses (such as funeral costs and possibly the cost of engaging a solicitor), each child received one quarter of the estate.
When it comes to arranging the funeral, it's important to remember that nobody is ever obliged to arrange a funeral for a relative. (If nobody agrees to do so, the council must pay for a funeral but can seek to recover the costs from the estate). So there's no reason that you, as the eldest, should be obliged to arrange your father's funeral. It's entirely a matter to be agreed between the four of you.
Chris
If your father leaves a will, he can leave his estate to whoever he likes and name anyone he chooses as his executors. (I'm assuming that none of his children are still minors or otherwise legal dependants of your father). So the question of 'next of kin' is entirely irrelevant when it comes to distributing his estate.
If your father dies intestate, there is a 'pecking order' defining who is entitled to apply for 'letters of administration' (which would allow them to distribute his estate in accordance with the intestacy rules). Assuming that he's not re-married, leaving a surviving spouse, his children would jointly lead the list of people entitled to apply for letters of administration. Any one of the children (or a group of them acting together) could apply for letters of administration. Adopted children are regarded in exactly the same way as biological children but the order of birth (or adoption) is irrelevant. The person (or group) granted letters of administration would have to ensure that, after the payment of expenses (such as funeral costs and possibly the cost of engaging a solicitor), each child received one quarter of the estate.
When it comes to arranging the funeral, it's important to remember that nobody is ever obliged to arrange a funeral for a relative. (If nobody agrees to do so, the council must pay for a funeral but can seek to recover the costs from the estate). So there's no reason that you, as the eldest, should be obliged to arrange your father's funeral. It's entirely a matter to be agreed between the four of you.
Chris
Thanks for all your replies. Its not that I`m interested in anything to do with his estate, only that today I received an e.mail telling me that he was donating his body to southampton university so there would be no funeral. I was just wondering if in any way this could be contested as I`m not actually sure that he is in his right mind and knows what he is doing.
Nobody has 'ownership' of a dead body. (For example, when some Sheffield Uni students nicked a body during rag week, they could only be charged with stealing the shroud which covered the body, since you can't deprive anyone of what it's impossible to own). So laws determining the type of funeral (or the complete non-existence of one) don't really exist.
As the former MD of a will-writing company I'm very much aware that the provisions of a will, relating to funeral arrangements, have no legal standing whatsoever. (A testator can state that he wants to be interred and even pre-pay for the arrangements himself. If whoever arranges the funeral decides that they'd rather have a cremation, that's what will happen).
If a testator can't make sure of his funeral arrangements (or lack of them) in his will, it seems unlikely that any other document can have any real legal standing. So you could probably over-ride the provisions of the document donating your father's body to science. (However, you might have to pay for the funeral out of your own pocket, rather than from the estate, because your father has effectively made it clear that no part of his estate should be used for funeral expenses).
Just because someone doesn't want a funeral, it's not an indication that they're 'not in their right mind'. My own will requires that I shall be cremated without ceremony and that my ashes shall be disposed of in any convenient refuse receptacle. I regard funerals as totally pointless (and I refuse to attend them).. Your father seems to share my views. Perhaps you should respect his views and (if you so choose) hold a commemorative service to celebrate his life, instead of a funeral?
Chris
PS: Has anyone checked whether Southampton Uni actually want his body? With advances in computer technology, medical students no longer routinely train using cadavers. It's very hard to 'leave your body to
As the former MD of a will-writing company I'm very much aware that the provisions of a will, relating to funeral arrangements, have no legal standing whatsoever. (A testator can state that he wants to be interred and even pre-pay for the arrangements himself. If whoever arranges the funeral decides that they'd rather have a cremation, that's what will happen).
If a testator can't make sure of his funeral arrangements (or lack of them) in his will, it seems unlikely that any other document can have any real legal standing. So you could probably over-ride the provisions of the document donating your father's body to science. (However, you might have to pay for the funeral out of your own pocket, rather than from the estate, because your father has effectively made it clear that no part of his estate should be used for funeral expenses).
Just because someone doesn't want a funeral, it's not an indication that they're 'not in their right mind'. My own will requires that I shall be cremated without ceremony and that my ashes shall be disposed of in any convenient refuse receptacle. I regard funerals as totally pointless (and I refuse to attend them).. Your father seems to share my views. Perhaps you should respect his views and (if you so choose) hold a commemorative service to celebrate his life, instead of a funeral?
Chris
PS: Has anyone checked whether Southampton Uni actually want his body? With advances in computer technology, medical students no longer routinely train using cadavers. It's very hard to 'leave your body to
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