Inheritance help

jellie75

Hi,
Have been lurking on this forum for a while but only just registered! I am not sure if this is the right place for this post so forgive me if I'm wrong. Hope someone will be able to advise.My father in law died suddenly nearly 2 years ago, having been the main carer for my mum in law who has a degenerative disease. She is now cared for by social services on a 24 hour basis in her council house. My father in law left just under £50,000 in pensions (he thought he was practically peniless) the social services were informed and after a few weeks my brother in law( power of attorney) had a letter informing him the investigation was complete. So now there is a substantial sum sitting there and nobody knows what to do- will they ask for it at some point or what? They had no savings, and she receives benefits, part of which i understand are used to fund the live in carer.She wants it to be divided between her children and grandchildren, but we don't know wether we can. Sorry its so long winded!

SeniorSam

jellie75 wrote: »

Hi,
Have been lurking on this forum for a while but only just registered! I am not sure if this is the right place for this post so forgive me if I'm wrong. Hope someone will be able to advise.My father in law died suddenly nearly 2 years ago, having been the main carer for my mum in law who has a degenerative disease. She is now cared for by social services on a 24 hour basis in her council house. My father in law left just under £50,000 in pensions (he thought he was practically peniless) the social services were informed and after a few weeks my brother in law( power of attorney) had a letter informing him the investigation was complete. So now there is a substantial sum sitting there and nobody knows what to do- will they ask for it at some point or what? They had no savings, and she receives benefits, part of which i understand are used to fund the live in carer.She wants it to be divided between her children and grandchildren, but we don't know wether we can. Sorry its so long winded!

Hi,

Your father in law's Will can be changed provided the change is made within 2 years of death and the beneficiaries agree. If that period has expired, then that opportunity has been missed.

The pension funds were in Trust, presumably to your mother, so that amount may be in her estate.

You do not say if your mother has made a Will? If not, then her estate will be split undr the rules of intestacy.

I suggest you seek the advice of a good solicitor and initially make an appointment to discuss before instructing them. Usually they will allow an initial discussion without charge, but check this before you meet.

Sam

John_Pierpoint

Surely "pensions" pay out a modest monthly sum to someone (presumably your MIL) and then will die when she does. The modest payment generated by a 50K investment may be "under the radar" as far as the local council is concerned?
Are you talking about some sort of "death grant" rather than an on going annuity?

jellie75

Thank you both for your replies. My father in law did not have a will the only thing of value was this money we don't think he realised was as much as it turned out to be. It was two policies that were pensions that paid out a lump sum on his death if that makes sense. We were just surprised that all we got was a letter saying that they had completed the investigation, with no clue as to wether or not the money was going to be asked for at some point.We are considering going to a solicitor for further advice.

p00hsticks

jellie75 wrote: »

We were just surprised that all we got was a letter saying that they had completed the investigation, with no clue as to wether or not the money was going to be asked for at some point.We are considering going to a solicitor for further advice.

Can you clarify exactly what you mean by 'social services' - what about DWP and the local council ? Both probably need to have been told about the money...

Before paying to get a solicitor involved, wouldn't it first be better to get back in touch with the people who carried out the investigation (presumably there is an address on the letter) and ask them to clarify what conclusion the investigation came to and confirm to you in writing whether her benefits or care will be affected at all ?

John_Pierpoint

I'm still a bit confused at how your MIL has managed to get her hands on a "pension" lump sum - I presume they really were married, if that is not an indelicate thing to say?

The fund(s) have not paid out because they are "trivial":
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/4796084.stm

Perhaps they are some sort of old fashioned friendly society type of policy with a fund that has been growing for years; and they date back to the days of people fearing a pauper's funeral?

(I have recently cashed in a life policy with the Prudential on behalf of the estate of a dead relative, that dates from 1918.)

You could try a benefits adviser, based at a citizens advice office (in a neighbouring local authority?:rolleyes:) to explain to you what the 50 K represents.
My experience of solicitors is that they are not very good knowing the ins and oputs of the benefits available to relatively poor people - I guess that such people cannot afford to pay their fees?

If you poke about on MSE, you may find threads that fit your MIL's circumstances.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=148454

A good way to search this forum is to paste something like:
“social services” site:forums.moneysavingexpert.com
into google and then further refine your results by going to the bottom of the page of results you will get and "searching within results"
(I tried "in law")