Third reading of Estates of Deceased Persons Bill

There was no report stage as the bill was not amended at Public Bill Committee and there were no amendments to be considered at report stage. The Bill passed and will now be considered by the House of Lords.

• Video and Audio: Estates of Deceased Persons (Forfeiture Rule and Law of Succession), third reading
• Commons Hansard: Estates of Deceased Persons (Forfeiture Rule and Law of Succession), third reading
• Bills before Parliament 2010-11: Estates of Deceased Persons (Forfeiture Rule and Law of Succession)

Summary of the Bill

The Bill gives general effect, with modifications, to the recommendations of the Law Commission in its 2005 report, 'The Forfeiture Rule and the Law of Succession' (PDF 385KB) and would, in certain circumstances, protect the inheritance rights of the descendants of people who have:

• forfeited their inheritance by killing the deceased; or
• decided not to accept their own inheritance.

Third reading

Third reading is the final chance for the Commons to debate the contents of a Bill.

Debate on the Bill is usually short, and limited to what is actually in the Bill, rather than, as at second reading, what might have been included.

Amendments (proposals for change) cannot be made to a Bill at third reading in the Commons. At the end of the debate, the House decides (votes on) whether to approve the third reading of the Bill.

If the Bill started in the Commons it goes to the House of Lords for its first reading.

Private Members' Bills

Private Members' Bills are Public Bills introduced by MPs and Members of the Lords who aren't government ministers. As with other Public Bills their purpose is to change the law as it applies to the general population.

• About Parliament: Private Members' Bills
• About Parliament: Passage of a Bill