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  • Wills?

    ****UPDATED #32****

    I'd appreciate your advice about wills,please...

    My OH's mother died several years ago.OH has had very little to do with her for most of his life and hasn't had any contact since about the mid 1970's....(his parent's divorced,she left her son's with their father,she had occasional contact but then didn't bother with them)...she later married and had a son.

    Curiosity got the better of me....(you know what it's like with this hobby!)...and I sent for her will.She died intestate but I received..is it letters of Administration?...It stated the gross value of estate at £240,000 and net value of £50,000...This,of course went to her son from her 2nd marriage who had a proper relationship with her....Hubby doesn't know I have this information and keeps asking me to try and find her will.

    My question is this...as there was no will,should her son have looked for my hubby for his share of the estate,as my OH is the eldest child?
    Would my hubby have a case to obtain his share if he gets a solicitor?


    My OH is very suspicious of there being lots of money which has all gone to his half-brother.
    At the time of her death,half-brother lived in a modest property in a not very nice area,he now lives in a fabulous,huge house on a new housing estate which was purchased about a year after she died.(We have found him on Facebook)

    Just so you know...I'm hoping hubby can't get his hands on this money.I don't feel his mother intended him to get any or she would have written a will stating her intentions!

    Thanks for reading and thanks for any advice!
    Last edited by Happy Cake; 13-09-11, 11:26. Reason: Important update
    Sandra:smilee:

  • #2
    Sandra

    As she died intestate, any estate she left should have been shared equally between her children. This is the law. The law takes no account of whether people liked each other or not! For your OH to have got nothing, the other son must have sworn a declaration that he knew of no other children born to his mother.

    Something funny going on here. It is not normally upto the beneficiary of an estate to look for other beneficiaries - the Intestacy department does that. Unless, as I said, he swore there were no other children. In that case, he has committed fraud and you have a criminal case against him (I am assuming he knew about your OH!)

    OC

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    • #3
      Thanks for the reply...Yes,he knew about OH,but they have had no contact.
      After I recieved OH's mother's death cert,I traced him,via the Electoral Roll and wrote to him.He was very polite and seemed very nice,but said he didn't wish to get to know my hubby...but,yes,he did know about him.
      Sandra:smilee:

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      • #4
        There are professional probate researchers who look for the nearest relatives when someone dies without leaving a will. I don't know who pays for their services, perhaps the government? I only know this because there was a programm on TV in the mornings when I was at home for a week with flu, a couple of weeks ago.

        Sandra, as OCH says, this sounds to be very fraudulent. If I were you, I'd fight this, if only for spite, but that's just me, sorry!

        Comment


        • #5
          Sandra

          Yes, your OH has a case to claim his share. He may not need a solicitor, I would contact the Intestacy Department first and have a chat with them, explaining the circumstances and let them advise you of your next move.

          OC

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          • #6
            Thanks again for your replies....It's given me something to think about!

            ...But,first,I have to confess to my husband that I've had details of his mum's estate for 6 months!
            Sandra:smilee:

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            • #7
              What do you mean by the Intestacy Department, OC? I've never heard of such a thing.

              Comment


              • #8
                Of course this all assumes that your mother-in-law had beed widowed at the time of her death. If not then some of the estate would have gone to her OH.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Mary

                  Sorry, sloppy wording on my part. I should have said - contact the local Probate Office for advice and they will pass you to the department which deals with intestacy.

                  Meanwhile, have a read up about intestacy - you will see that your OH should clearly have inherited a share of his mother's estate. A surviving spouse normally is only entitled to a half of the estate.

                  http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/..._intestacy.htm.

                  OC

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                  • #10
                    Can only agree with the previous posts - but very strict rules exist regarding intestate estates . A solicitor (appointed)handles the estate but generally employs an agency to do the research. I know one we did years back found 200 + relatives they all ended up with pretty small shares ! The share varies with closeness of relationship and the agency fees are paid by the estate.

                    Solicitors insure against having missed anyone before finally paying out the appropriate share of the estate to all parties.

                    Definitely follow this up because he's acted fraudulently and/or the appointed solicitor has acted negligently - you can always give some of the money to charity if it bothers you !

                    Roger

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                    • #11
                      Roger

                      You are quite right in what you say, although we do need to remember that there are two types of intestacy:

                      One - Where there is no Will but there are known and close relatives. In this case the relative(s) would (or could) deal with the estate but according to the strict legal requirements of the Intestacy laws

                      Two - Where there is no Will and there are no known relatives. In this case, a searching agency would probably be used and the estate divided up, again according to the strict Intestacy laws.

                      OC

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by RNM View Post
                        Solicitors insure against having missed anyone before finally paying out the appropriate share of the estate to all parties.
                        Which means that even if the estate has been distributed in full the solicitor's insurance should fork out a sum equivalent to what your OH should have got.
                        Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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                        • #13
                          Thank you all for your advice....
                          Yes,she was a widow so her sons would have been first in line according to Intestacy Rules.

                          Something else happened which made my hubby suspicious...

                          When our daughter was about a year old,we noticed how different she was to her brother.She doesn't look like him and her personality is completely different.We thought she was perhaps more like her 'other' side of the family,which we don't know, and it got my hubby thinking more and more of trying to find his mum.
                          He managed to find her address and drove to her house...just to look,I think.I don't think he would have knocked on the door...Anyway...it was clearly an empty property,so he went to the local council and asked if they knew of a forwarding address.They asked who he was and then told him,sorry,but she had died a couple of months earlier.They gave him his half-brothers phone number.Hubby phoned it and spoke to his wife.Hubby left his number to call him back if they wanted to contact him but they didn't...Is this the reason why? He was about to come into some money and didn't want to have to share it?

                          It was funny really....the year his mother was dying,my OH kept thinking of her and decided he had to try to find her again.Shame he'd left it a bit too late.I'd have loved to have met her.
                          Sandra:smilee:

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                          • #14
                            They gave him his half-brothers phone number.Hubby phoned it and spoke to his wife.Hubby left his number to call him back if they wanted to contact him but they didn't...Is this the reason why? He was about to come into some money and didn't want to have to share it?
                            I would say that's very probably the reason, people can let greed cloud their judgment. So the half brother clearly knew exactly what he was doing if he swore there were no other children. This is the reason Wills are made public!
                            Anne

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                            • #15
                              Just had another thought - there should be a signing off signature on the letters of Administration - either your brother in law, or that of a Solicitor. If it is that of a solicitor, then contact him and ask why your OH was not given a share of the estate.

                              Although the solicitor is insured, the Insurance company will not hesitate to pursue the person guilty of wrong doing, be it the solicitor or your BIL. I agree with everyone else, I would pursue this and give the money to charity - there is a principle of honesty at stake here and because I am a nasty suspicious olde crone, I cannot help wondering if there WAS a Will, if you get my drift.....

                              OC

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                              • #16
                                I've just checked for the signature OC, and across the bottom of the page it says...DISTRICT REGISTRAR/PROBATE OFFICER.There is a line crossed through District Registrar and a signature over the Probate Officer bit....can't read the signature though to make out the name.

                                I really don't know what to do about this now...Part of me feels as if we're barging in on a family we don't know or have any part of to greedily snatch money from them and the other part of me thinks,'HANG ON A MINUTE! You've taken OUR money!'
                                Sandra:smilee:

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                                • #17
                                  Sandra

                                  I hardly think you are "greedily snatching money" when the law is VERY clear that you should be getting it - it is fraud on the part of someone else if you do not get it.

                                  If your late MIL did not wish her eldest son to have anything then she should have made a Will to that effect. She didn't, so, the law takes over and decides who gets the money. You may not want the money yourself, but you can always give it away because legally it is yours AND you have been diddled out of it.

                                  Ring the Probate Office tomorrow and ask why your OH got nothing.

                                  OC

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                                  • #18
                                    I've been mulling over all your advice about this and have just phoned the local Probate Office to ask their advice on what to do....

                                    Lovely man said to seek legal advice.My hubby should have received his share.The only way OH wouldn't be eligible is if he was adopted,which he wasn't...BUT...half-brother could get in trouble about not declaring any other siblings....

                                    Hmmmmm....don't like the idea of dropping someone in trouble.If I speak to OH he'll not think twice about it,especially when he finds out how much money is at stake!
                                    Sandra:smilee:

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                                    • #19
                                      Sandra

                                      But the man told deliberate lies, so he deserves trouble! He is a thief.

                                      I'm surprised the Probate Office won't deal with this themselves as it is they who have been deliberately lied to.

                                      OC

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                                      • #20
                                        At the end of the day, Sandra, it's up to your OH to decide and I don't mean any disrespect to you - sorry! I don't even know any of you, but it's making my blood boil to see what's been going on here. I do hope you you sort it all out to a satisfactory conclusion, though I daresay it won't be satisfactory to your greedy BIL, who obviously has no conscience!

                                        Let us all know how you get on

                                        Good Luck

                                        Kathy

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