McGregor

Through these columns I have frequently highlighted the need for all persons of sound mind who are over 18 years of age to prepare a will. The often-recited rationale is that a person's assets will be distributed in accordance with the provisions of the Intestates' Estates and Property Charges Act if he or she dies without leaving a will, and this may not coincide with the deceased's wishes for disposal of the assets.

The assets which are affected by the act include real property (such as land and building) and personal property (such as money, cars, jewellery, books and furniture).

Under this act, the spouse of the deceased stands to get the largest share of his or her assets. Spouse is defined by law to include not only a widow, widower or divorcee, but also a single woman (or single man, if the deceased was female) with whom the deceased had been cohabiting for at least five years immediately before dying, as if they were husband and wife.

The inclusion of this expanded definition of 'spouse' in the act demonstrates a relaxation of the old law which only recognised married couples. Several other legislation have since gone this route. However, there are still statutes which do not embrace and recognise common-law spouses as standing on the level as married couples.

The constabulary Force

Woman constables perform a drill during their passing-out parade at the police academy, Twickhenham Park, St Catherine, in June 2006. - File

The Constabulary Force act and Constables (Special) Act are two such legislation. Under both acts, if a constable or special constable dies while in the force, or as a result of injuries received during the course of duty, the governor general may grant to the dependants of that constable, pensions and gratuities as set out in the regulations under the acts.

The acts define dependants of the constable to be his or her children, surviving spouse and mother. The children of the constable include adopted children, stepchildren or posthumous children. The father will not benefit unless the constable's mother is deceased.

Perhaps there was a deliberate effort to ensure that neither the Constabulary Force Act nor Constables (Special) Act included an extended definition of 'spouse', in keeping with the trend in our legislation, to include common-law spouses.

However, it could also be that these legislation, were overlooked when the changes were being implemented. In either case, the circumstances outlined in a recent newscast involving the surviving common-law spouse of a constable who was told that she was not entitled to receive a benefit may have highlighted the need for legislative review in this area. It may be useful to ascertain the number of common-law spouses who have been left in the cold when their partners died as a result of injuries sustained in the line of duty.

Sherry-Ann McGregor is a partner and mediator with the firm Nunes, Scholefield, DeLeon & Co. Send feedback and questions to lawsofeve@yahoo.com or Lifestyle@gleanerjm.com.