A delicate situation.

G-G_4

I'd just ask the parents. If you don't have much contact anyway then what does it matter if they are a bit funny with you.. For your daughters sake you should look into it for sure.

Good Luck x

lindseykim13

could you not write or ring the solicitors that dealt with his will? i don't want to start trouble but 'what if' his parents decided not to tell them about your daughter and just kept quiet?

Scarlett.1974

Thank you for the replies

kunekune - I sadly suspect you may be correct in your thinking. Surely, if she had been left anything from the estate then we would have received something in writing from someone (the executors or the solicitors that dealt with it?)

I've decided though - I am going to write to ex's parents and just ask them. I do owe it to my daughter to look into it properly.

Scarlett.1974

Mary_Hartnell wrote: »

You can check and see who now owns the house on the Land Registry site for 3 GBP.

I've just done this

The house is solely in the g/f's name and under lender it says "none", so I would assume from that, that the house is now completely hers and the mortgage paid off when he passed away?

BARGAINHUNTER!

Yes, it looks as if the house has been transferred into her name and the mortgage paid off. Can you not make an appointment to see a solicitor (first half hour usually free) and ask their advice on what to do next? They might be able to find out what was left from his estate (if anything) and where it went. If your daughter had been left anything surely she would have been notified, or else how would she know how/when to claim it? But hopefully a solicitor would be able to find out exactly what was left and where it went.

SuziQ

We are pretty sure that my ex's oldest 2 children had 2 trust funds left by his dad who died around 12 years ago. I went through the timely rigmarole of getting a copy of his fathers will which basically had very little on except gifts to non family members and a very low (we know inaccurate) valuation of his estate,which went to my ex's mum and avoided probate. We took legal advice as we were concerned as to what had happened to his mother's vast properties,given my bil had said they were having to sell their house to pay a massive tax bill for their mum and were moving in with his mum(that house has now been solely transferred into my bil name.)
Our solicitor was very pessimistic about us being able to sort it all out without his mother's cooperation (she is scared of upsetting my ex's older brother as he is very moody and can be very nasty) and he also said he would need a £2,000 retainer to start any investigation.Ageconcern were sympathetic but said it was a common problem they were consulted about (rels disposing of assets/stealing inheritance)and in there experience without a costly lengthy court challenge (once you have your info) resolution is unlikely.
At this point we knew we were beaten.
We are pretty sure that an insurance policy left to my ex,which matured last year,has been cashed by putting it through my ex's nephews bank account-identical names,but have no way pr proving it as everyone dnies the policy existed (my ex was told about it by the company accountant,who has since passed away.)
These matters are very tricky. Your daughter is surely entitled to something from her father's estate,it is what most parents would want and I really hope you get somewhere with this.

Loretta

Isn't there some sort of benefit for a child whose father dies and he is still responsible for paying child support@ I thought there was

littlemissmoney

Loretta wrote: »

Isn't there some sort of benefit for a child whose father dies and he is still responsible for paying child support@ I thought there was

Widowed Parent's Allowance

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Bereaved/DG_10018848

It depends if the OP divorced her ex though.

regularsaver1

i hope you get some answers, because at the end of the day it was his daughter and their grand-daughter

Mary_Hartnell

You say "executors" rather than "personal representatives", which suggests that there was a will. The personal representatives are called "administrators" if there is no will. The Land Registry would not have allowed the property to be transferred to the girl friend without a proven will (unless they did it before he died - what is the date of transfer?). Woops It might have been a joint tenancy rather than tenants in common, in which case all the Land Registry would need would be the death certificate. However, as it is now mortgage free, does that suggest the mortgage was paid off by a life insurance policy? If the property was transferred to GF within 3 months of the death, that would suggest the "personal representatives" used the death certificate.
Next step is to go and search to see if a will has been registered. then read the will and probably buy your own copy, just so you can always explain what happened to your child and anyone else who has a right/need to know..
(I as a 21 year old - 40 years ago - had to do this to find out what was happening with my grand-mother's will. Funny thing , I was the major beneficiary. I wonder if they were trying not to tell me!)

Would I be right in thinking that the estate of the deceased was well below the InHeritance Tax (IHT) threshold, so the tax man would have just waved the forms through to the court, as a simple formality. (Holding the bible and telling lies for about 90 seconds, is not too much of an ordeal in this day and age) There is no need to involve a solicitor if the executor(s) are moderately literate.

Oh dear, sorry about this - I've just reread your initial posting, where you say there was definitely NOT a will ! So cross out Executors and substitute Administrators. These people will have needed to go to court and explain the situation to a judge.
to get "letters of administration". Perhaps there was nothing in the estate to be left to anyone? I feel that as the guardian of the deceased's child you should be able to gain access to the papers that were lodged for the grant of letters of administration.

Let us know how you get on with this.