Meeting of the Parliament 28 January 2016
Absolutely.
I certainly agree with the sentiment that Stewart Stevenson expresses. I do not envisage such a situation occurring again, even on an irregular basis, in the context of the Scottish Law Commission bill procedure.
Of course, the situation is not of our making, as I hope the debate has clarified. Given the concerns about the impact of Zurich’s decision, it would have been remiss of the Scottish Government not to act quickly and do what it could to try to remedy the position. I hope that committee members take comfort from their involvement in that. Doing nothing would have placed a new and unwelcome burden on small uncontentious estates and it would have left the market further exposed should Royal Sun Alliance at some point also withdraw. It would also have created a position where a legal requirement was incapable of being met, resulting in estates being incapable of being wound up.
I will respond to a couple of points that colleagues have made in the debate. I assure John Scott that, if issues arose in relation to the change in bonds of caution, they could be addressed swiftly under the powers in the bill. There is no need to wait for a second bill to achieve that. Although there are plans for a second bill, we do not need to address that particular point through that route. I am grateful to Mr Scott for his kind remarks not just about me but particularly about my bill team, who have worked hard. I appreciate that sentiment.
Margaret McDougall asked where the inheritance would go if there were no direct descendants. I point out that the bequest would fall and go into the residual estate, which is the estate that is available to a named residuary legatee or legatees, or would be devolved under the laws of intestacy. I am happy to put that on the record, and I hope that that clarifies the matter for individuals who are interested in it.
The bill is a worthy one that will bring much-needed reform. I urge members across the chamber to support the bill and pass it at stage 3.