FIL died intestate
Comments
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If they had divorced, the 5 kids would've got the equivalent of £100k each.
Don't sign away your right to the money that the father spent his life earning. Wife 2, who was being divorced and already has another man, is already sitting pretty on a fortune ... a fortune not earnt and more than she'd have got from any divorce.0 -
Yorkshireman99 wrote: »There really is nothing else to decide. Because their are beneficiaries who are minors under the intestacy rules a deed of variation is not possible. The house is going to have to be sold unless the widow can afford to buy the others out. The sooner all parties start cooperating the better it will be. If anyone decides to challenge the rules it will just waste money and is doomed to failure.
I believe the initial intent could be to get the adult sister to give up their shares, that removes one set of raising of funds.
As the wife becomes trustee of the estate an subsequently the shares of the minors that could be left in the property, that removes the rest of the funds that need raising.
no house sale needed.0 -
A timely reminder to anyone thinking of initiating a divorce get that new will done first.0
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getmore4less wrote: »A timely reminder to anyone thinking of initiating a divorce get that new will done first.
Quite. Although "intestate" implies there wasn't a will to start with: wills (other than those prepared in contemplation of marriage to a specific person) are voided by marriage, but are not voided by divorce, so had there been a will the FIL in this case wouldn't have been intestate, rather would have had a will which they might not have chosen.0 -
getmore4less wrote: »I believe the initial intent could be to get the adult sister to give up their shares, that removes one set of raising of funds.
As the wife becomes trustee of the estate an subsequently the shares of the minors that could be left in the property, that removes the rest of the funds that need raising.
no house sale needed.
That sounds on the bleeding edge of legality. We have had this discussion recently about whether residual beneficiaries are entitled to their share in cash rather than in other (potentially illiquid) assets, but to convert the entitlement of minors to the assets of their father into minority shares in a house which no-one intends to sell seems incredibly harsh. Normally, a trust for a minor beneficiary would be empowered to advance money ahead of majority for purposes of education or other good things - in essence, the things their late father would have paid for had he not died - and to replace that with a part share in a house is clearly not to their advantage. The trustees for the minors would be derelict in their duty, morally if not legally, if they permitted this.0 -
Surely if the widow is entileted to her share she can force the sale of the property. If so end of story. All the rest is conjecture.securityguy wrote: »That sounds on the bleeding edge of legality. We have had this discussion recently about whether residual beneficiaries are entitled to their share in cash rather than in other (potentially illiquid) assets, but to convert the entitlement of minors to the assets of their father into minority shares in a house which no-one intends to sell seems incredibly harsh. Normally, a trust for a minor beneficiary would be empowered to advance money ahead of majority for purposes of education or other good things - in essence, the things their late father would have paid for had he not died - and to replace that with a part share in a house is clearly not to their advantage. The trustees for the minors would be derelict in their duty, morally if not legally, if they permitted this.0 -
PasturesNew wrote: »If they had divorced, the 5 kids would've got the equivalent of £100k each.
Don't sign away your right to the money that the father spent his life earning. Wife 2, who was being divorced and already has another man, is already sitting pretty on a fortune ... a fortune not earnt and more than she'd have got from any divorce.
Although I suspect the estate would probably been reduced with the divorce settlement.
It simply amazes me at the number of people with these complex family set ups, who fail to make a will leaving their loved (and no longer loved) ones sorting out a horrible mess.0 -
Yorkshireman99 wrote: »Just to make sure, the estranged wife IS entitled to most of the estate. Fighting it will fail!
We're not fighting it Yorkshireman - we accept that the widow is entitled to a fair chunk, but she is wanting the others to sign away any claim to the whole estate so she retains everything.paddy's_mum wrote: »I'm confused. Are there two wives in the picture, one being the "step mother in law" "almost ex" you mention and the other being a first wife and the biological mother of some of the children?
I ask only because there might be other factors operating which may alter who gets what eg provision for a dependent.
No - only the one wife, sorry for the confusion.Yorkshireman99 wrote: »Surely if the widow is entileted to her share she can force the sale of the property. If so end of story. All the rest is conjecture.
The widow isn't wanting to sell up to release her share, she is wanting the children to relinquish any claim to the whole estate so she can keep it all.0 -
At the moment the older children have agreed between them to refuse to sign anything and speak to a solicitor. They are also in agreement that their father would not have wanted them to not receive anything from the estate (although a will would have been nice to have confirmed!)
We only know the value of the property because it was valued as part of the divorce proceedings. There might be more money somewhere but we have no idea. We do know the widow has received his private pensions and subsequent lump sum payments.
The next step is get the true value of the estate because at the moment that is not known and without that nothing further can be done.0 -
The bottom line is that she has no right to anything but the amount under the intestacy rules. A valuation by a RICS or similarly qualified surveyor will be required to apply for letters of administration and probate. That may be different from the one in the divorce proceedings. In the end if the parties do not cooperate they will risk losing money.We're not fighting it Yorkshireman - we accept that she is entitled to a fair chunk, but she is wanting the others to sign away any claim to the whole estate so she retains everything.
No - only the one wife, sorry for the confusion.
She isn't wanting to sell up to release her share, she is wanting the children to relinquish any claim to the whole estate.0
This discussion has been closed.
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