Dying Intestate 1921 Ireland

[JaniceK]

Can anyone tell me what would happen to a widow's estate in 1921 if she died without making a will?  She had 3 daughters ages 22 to 18 at the time of her death.  She died in an asylum where she had been commited after the death of her husband in 1912.  Her husband's brother and his wife had had the care of the daughters and to a certain extent some control over some of her finances, at least that which was supposed to be spent for the upkeep of the daughters.  I have been unable to determine why she was committed to the asylum or by whom.  I am in Canada so I have no idea how Ireland handles intestate matters.  Thanks.

[agho]

I'm no legal buff but since Ireland was only extracting itself from British Rule in 1921 I'd imagine British Law would have applied - In the event of a person dying intestate the estate passed to the surviving spouse or if no surviving spouse then it would be divided equally between children or whoever legally represented minor children.
I'm open to correction by a more knowledgeable chatter

[annclare]

When somebody dies intestate and if there is an estate -property and money- a grant of administration has to be applied for - usually done by the legal "next of kin".
The National Archives should have records of wills and grants of administration up to  1980 or 1990 I think. After 20 years the wills etc are sent to the Archives.
Regards
annclare

[JaniceK]

Therefore, the only way that the estate would pass into the care of the state would be if there were no identifiable surviving relatives of any kind??  The estate would have been disbursed within a reasonably short time after the death of the person??  Even in 1921 it wouldn't have been given only to the oldest surviving child??

[aghadowey]

Not everyone's 'estate' goes through Probate/Administration but if there was anything files it should be in Indexes in PRONI (their website has extracts online but doesn't go up to 1921).