Abatement of debts and legacies

Abatement of debts and legacies is a common law doctrine of wills. It holds that when the equitable assets of a deceased person are not sufficient to satisfy all the creditors in full, their debts must abate proportionately and the creditors must accept a dividend. The same applies to legacies when the funds or assets out of which they are payable fall short: they abate in proportion, unless priority is given specially to a particular legacy, and annuities are subject to the same rule as general legacies. The usual order of abatement runs from intestate property, to the residuary of the estate, to general devises, demonstrative devises and specific devises, while non-probate property such as life insurance policies does not abate.