Relying On The Concept Of ‘Next Of Kin’ – When Is It Enough?

In the United Kingdom, the term ‘next of kin’ has no legal definition in law and may not necessarily refer to blood relatives at all. Timms Sara Hilliard discusses….

Use During Your Lifetime

Institutions such as hospitals, care homes and other organisations allow anyone, over the age of 18, to be nominated as next of kin, whether they are a blood relative or not. Therefore, there is no reason that your partner shouldn’t be treated as your ‘next of kin’ despite the fact that you are not married.

If you have not been chosen as a next of kin, it will usually be assumed to be a close blood relative, spouse or civil partner.

Being next of kin does not come with any legal rights and carries no official responsibilities to make decisions about care or treatment.

If you wish to give someone the legal authority to make decisions about your health and welfare in the event that you lose mental capacity then you will need to make a Health & Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney.

Similarly, if you wish to give someone the legal authority to make decisions about your finances then you will need to make a Property & Financial Lasting Power of Attorney.

Use After Death

The role of ‘next of kin’ should also not be confused with that of a personal representative – the person whose job it is to find and distribute the deceased’s assets to the beneficiaries of the estate.

Being next of kin does not come with any legal rights and carries no official responsibilities in the event of someone’s death.

However, the next of kin is usually the person with whom funeral directors, coroners, police and other official organisations use as the primary point of contact to provide and request information. They are also the person who is consulted about matters such as postmortems, organ and tissue donation.

It is not the person with whom matters of the estate are discussed as these duties fall to the Executor of the Will or administrator if there is no Will i.e. the personal representative.

Also, the next of kin does not automatically receive any inheritance rights. In the event of there being no Last Will and Testament then the next of kin for inheritance rights is established in accordance with a strict hierarchy of living relatives. Making a Will and appointing executors is vital if you do not want your estate passing to your remaining blood line.

For further information, please contact Sara Hilliard F.C.I.L.Ex on 01332 364436 or by email s.hillard@timms-law.com.

Sara Hilliard
July 2021