A delicate situation.

Scarlett.1974

Thanks again for all your advice and replies, it's much appreciated

No, there was definitely no will. Sorry for using the wrong terminology and causing confusion

We were never married so I wasn't entitled to WPA.

My first step is definitely to write a letter to daughter's grandparents and ask them if they can shed any light on it. If I get no luck there, then I will look into seeing a solicitor to see if they can help. I am starting to think that maybe there wasn't anything left to leave..... but for my daughter's sake I need to look into this thoroughly and find out.

Thanks for no-one accusing me of being money-grabbing or vulgar But I KNOW if there WAS anything for my daughter her Dad would have wanted her to have it.

littlemissmoney

Is he named as the father on your daughters birth certificate? If he isn't and you weren't married then might the parents try to deny she is his daughter? I'm sure they wouldn't, but just trying to prepare you...

Mary_Hartnell

BBC Radio 4 "Moneybox" debated intestacy this week.
The programme for what it is worth can be heard on-line until the end of the week.

Perhaps more interesting is the selection of listeners comments (it sounds like the children in Scotland get a better deal (?). If someone would like to have a go at explaining the Scottish rules that would be interesting, because I could not understand the explanation on the Radio).
The solicitor at the end of the item who advocated "personal possessions plus the first 300K to the spouse" (usually widow) got it about right. There seem to be a lot of widows out there who think they should get the whole shooting match and get especially excited about the house. Why a widow would object to having a life interest in half a house (3/4rs if they were tenants in common and 100% if they were joint tenants) with the dependent (?) children owning the other half (or quarter) escapes me. One would hope that in due course the children would be a great support to their mother and she to them. Forcing her to "downsize" would not be their immediate intention.on their 18th birthday.
Mind you the aristocracy knew the widow's place in the scheme of things:
http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_561503877/dower_house.html
"Ok mum, the funeral was three months ago and we have built you a shed at the bottom of the garden".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/7491229.stm

Unless we have compulsory DNA testing of parents and children (which would come as much of a shock to fathers as mothers?), bits of paper is all we have to fall back on in this "fluid" age?

You may find the paternal grand parents are more sympathetic than you think - have they other grand children over and above these two? If your child has inherited something, you need at least one and ideally three trustees to look after the "investment" until the 18th birthday party. That sounds terribly formal, but a trustee shoudl be honoured to be in such a position - a bit like being a godparent.

On the taxation threads, there is lots of lively debate (and similar examples to yours) about inheritance. Someone who calls himself "localhero" might be able to join this discussion and perhaps draw in some of the other rival professionals.

You could perhaps send him a Private Message and ask nicely, including a cut and paste of the address of your thread?

Unfortunately as you have already discovered, solicitors at (say) 150 GBP per hour, soon use up any inheritance they may or may not be able to claim.

BTW I once had to stand up for my kid's rights to 3K each in a will, I could tell that the executors hated the thought of paying it and were looking for an excuse to claim "undue influence", so I had to be hard nosed to avoid getting drawn into a dysfunctional family and wrote several letters reading "I'm not getting into any discussions about the thought processes of the deceased, just do as you are instructed by the will". They found the little nest egg useful when going to Uni about 15 years later.:T

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search.html?searchid=31190671

Strapped

Mary_Hartnell wrote: »

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.

If there's nothing much in the estate, then the administrators don't need to go to court - you just fill in a form declaring that what's left is less than a certain amount & post it off (recently had to do this for my father). I presume that the info on this form may be public info, but otherwise, there'd be little "audit trail".

localhero

Hi Scarlet.1974,

I am sorry to hear of the predicament you find yourself in.

I think the first step is for you to find out for yourself whether or not his estate went through probate.

Redbern's link at post #6 is a good starting point. If his estate did go through probate you should be able to find out who his administrators were and the value of the estate.

Unfortunately this may not give a full reflection of what his estate consisted of. The difficulty lies in life policies or death in service pension policies, as these usually pass outside of the estate directly to the beneficiaries. (Though not always).

If there was some money left in trust for your daughter, then the trustees or administrators really ought to have written to inform you on behalf of your daughter providing details of the amount and when she will inherit the sum.

In the absence of that happening; then a) there was nothing left in trust to your daughter; or b) the administrators have been dishonest or incompetent.

It is very difficult to ascertain for sure the details of the policies without knowing who they were set up with, so you really are at the mercy of his parents.

If you know who he was employed by you could write to the company's pension registrars to see if he had any death in service pension benefits.

I think if you want his parents to take you (and their responsibilities) seriously it might be an idea to pay for a solicitors' letter requesting details of the estate and any life policies. As Bargainhunter says, try and get an initial free consultation and pay for a simple letter. This may be enough to draw a positive response from the parents.

I suspect that there may have been a life policy that repaid the mortgage, hence it being mortgage free and in the sole ownership of the girlfriend. There may be more though, so that £50 letter might turn out to be a good investment.

Best of luck with everything.