Uncle died without leaving a Will

Jay1b

I was hoping someone could please give me some advice?

My Nan's brother died at the weekend without leaving a will (had the belief he had plenty of time left). He owns his own property (paid for) and has a considerable amount of savings. His verbal wish was for the money+property to be divided between his two surviving sisters. However he also has a son who he hasnt spoke too in about 30 years.

As he didnt leave a will, i am sure that the next of kin is by default his son; but thats against his wishes. Nobody (including the police) has managed to contact his son as of yet.

What i would like to know is:
*When his son finds out, he will obviously try to claim the estate. How should my Nan handle this? I presume it would have to goto court. Should my Nan and her sister get a solictor now, to be prepared?
*If nobody can contact the son, at what point (timescale) and how can they access the money and sell the house? We dont even know if he's still a live.
*Obviously a funeral needs to be arranged, should we just go on to arrange this? What happens about paying for it?

Thanks.

Savvy_Sue

I am sorry for your loss.

Knowing this kind of question has been raised before, I did a search for intestacy throughout the forum, which it would be worth your while to repeat.

But this is probably the best thread to look at for the start of an answer to your questions, as there is a link to a web page with Q&A about intestacy (dying without making a will). However elsewhere s@sha found this wonderful flowchart showing the rules of intestacy which is easier to follow. And unfortunately it seems that without a will, your uncle's estate should all pass to his son.

It might be worth reposting your question in the Families bit of the board: there seem to be some people hanging out there who know a fair bit about the law.

What they often say is that many solicitors offer a free half-hour consultation so could be worth phoning around to see who does in your area.

Hope you find a satisfactory resolution. And that your nan and her sister have made wills, as we all should ...

Jay1b

Thanks for your help. I will repost the above in the Families section as your advised.

Nick99

Position is governed by the Administration of Estates Act 1925, whcih says that if there was no surviving spouse then any living children take the whole estate (sharing it equaly if there were more than one).

If there was no surviving spouse and no children , then the parents of the deceased take it all.

Failing that it goes to the deceaseds brothers and sisters equally (or the children of any one that predeceased

Failing that to half brothers and sisters.........

Failing that to uncles & aunts .................

Failing all of that then Gordon Brown will be most grateful

Looks to me as though you need to establish the non-presence of the son, and then let grandmother take it. You can establish it by advertisement, but the way to do that is a bit complicated - London Gazette + local papers etc, etc). Take advice from someone sensible

Moral must be: Everyone needs a will - TODAY!