8 Steps to Helping Children When Parents Die Without a Will

Losing a loved one is hard and can cause a lot of stress, especially when there is no Will to guide how the estate must be shared. The estate is what we call 'dead lef' in Jamaica. It includes things like money, land, cars and other things your loved one owns. Once there are children under 18 years old, the Administrator-General's Department will help to sort out 'dead lef' in eight simple steps.

1. Step One

Gather these papers for the person who died:

☑ Death certificate

☑ Taxpayer Registration Number (TRN)

☑ National Insurance Scheme (NIS)

2. Step Two

Gather these papers for the family members:

☑ Birth certificates for the children

☑ Court order that says who is the real father of a child, if needed

☑ Adoption certificates, if the children are adopted

☑ Taxpayer Registration Number (TRN)

☑ National Insurance Scheme (NIS)

☑ Marriage certificate or court order for common law union

If a single man and a single woman live together like married people for five years or more and one of them dies, the surviving partner will need to apply to the court for a paper that says they were common law spouses.

3. Step Three

Make a list of all the belongings of the person who died. Write down everything they owned like house, cars, savings accounts, stocks and all other items.

4. Step Four

Collect a "Particulars" form from the Administrator-General's office in Kingston or Montego Bay or download it at www.agd.gov.jm.

The Administrator-General's Department in Kingston is located at:
The Office Centre Building
12 Ocean Boulevard
Kingston

The Montego Bay office is located at:
The NHT Building (Second Floor)
42B Union Street
Montego Bay

5. Step Five

Fill in all the information you know about the person who died. You can use the death certificate to help with some of the information.

Fill in the name, date of birth, address and TRN of the family members who are still alive.

Fill in the name, date of birth, address and TRN of the family members who died before your loved one.

List all the belongings on the form.

6. Step Six

Take the form to a Justice of the Peace or a Notary Public who will let you sign in front of them that the information you put on the paper is true. After that, they sign it too.

7. Step Seven

Drop off the form at the Kingston or Montego Bay office or send them by mail to:

The Administrator-General's Department
The Office Centre Building
12 Ocean Boulevard
P.O. Box 458
Kingston
or
The Administrator-General's Department
NHT Building (Second Floor)
42B Union Street
Montego Bay

8. Step Eight

Wait for the Administrator-General's next steps, which are to:

Ask the court for papers to:

☑ Get all the money from their savings and other types of accounts

☑ Take control of their house, car, and everything else they own

☑ Pay any bills or money the person owed

☑ Share the estate among family members based on what the law allows

The Administrator-General keeps the children's share of the estate safe until they turn 18 years old.

When a person dies without a Will, the law dictates who gets their 'dead lef'. The first person who gets a share is the spouse. This is followed by the children. If there is no spouse or child, then other family members like the parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles, who are still alive and can be found, may be able to get a share.

If no family can be found, the things they owned go to the Government of Jamaica. This is called "Bona Vacantia," which means "no owner."