The Succession Act 1965 in Irish law was intended to provide for the surviving spouse of the deceased
if the deceased was
intestate
Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without a legally valid will, resulting in the distribution of their estate under statutory intestacy laws rather than by their expressed wishes. Alternatively this may also apply ...
or specified a less than equitable share of the estate. Up to then, Irish
citizens could apportion their estate as they wished without regard to the needs of their spouse or family.
References
1965 in Irish law
Acts of the Oireachtas of the 1960s
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