Where the deceased died intestate leaving a minor child, and the grandparents are the administrators of the estate to which the child is entitled, does the legal guardian appointed have a right to access the estate accounts and/or trust accounts on behalf of the minor beneficiary?

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Produced in partnership with Lynne Counsell of Addington Chambers

Published on: 03 February 2020

Guardians of children

The guardian of a child has the legal authority to make decisions on the child’s behalf and represent the child’s personal and financial interests. Section 105 of the Children Act 1989 (CA 1989) defines ‘guardian of a child’ to mean a guardian (other than the guardian of the estate of a child) appointed in accordance with provisions of CA 1989, s 5.

There are three ways in which a guardian can be appointed:

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by a person having parental responsibility for the child under CA 1989, s 5. CA 1989, s 5(3) provides that a parent who has parental responsibility for a child (as defined in CA 1989, s 3) may appoint another individual to be the child’s guardian in the event of their death. The appointment must be made in

Lynne Counsell

Barrister, Addington Chambers

Lynne has been in traditional Chancery practice for some thirty years, specialising in probate matters, construction of wills and trusts and also financial services and drafting.

Lynne was for some years counsel for Tower Hamlets, representing them on landlord and tenant cases and counsel for Bedford Building Society representing it on mortgage cases.

Lynne has written or updated over fifty books, including writing the initial volume of Atkin’s Court Forms “Financial Services” and updating Halsbury’s Laws on Injunctions. Lynne was also co-author of two editions of “Insider Trading” and co-editor and one of the writers of “Chancery Practice and Procedure.”

Articles include “Marketing of Investments” for the Law Society Gazette and “The Doctrine of Mutual Wills” for the Trust Quarterly Review. Lynne won one of the few cases on mutual wills in the last fifty years – Charles v Fraser (2010).

Lynne has drafted the standard unit trust for the government of Nigeria, the rules and related documentation for various building societies and clubs, shareholder agreements, company takeovers compliance documentation for certain banks as well as wills and trusts.

Lynne was awarded the 2017 Corporate international Magazine Global Award – “Investment Contracts Barrister of the Year in England”.

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Intestate definition

What does Intestate mean?

A reference to a person who has died without leaving a valid Will or who has failed to dispose of their entire estate by Will.

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