Joint accs. - is solicitor required in event of death of one named

worto03

My Father has terminal cancer and is concerned that his family have access to his savings (approx. £30k) in the event of his death.

My question here is, if I am to be named on all of his accounts (as joint account holder) will a solicitor be required to settle these finances? Or will I be in a position to do so?

He is in rented accommodation and so this is his entire estate - will a solicitor be involved at all or can I simply split the money between myself and my brother? There is no Will but he has expressed his wishes to the family.

Would a solicitor be involved at some point anyway?

Many thanks in advance,
Mrs worto03.

meritaten

he needs to make a will! ASAP! appoint you executor and say who he wants his money to go to - get in two neighbours or friends to witness it (they dont need to read or see whats in the will - they are just witnesses to him SIGNING it!) that should be valid. if he feels that other members of the family will get access to money he doesnt want them to have, then he HAS to do this! otherwise blood relatives will inherit if he dies without a will (intestate).

Annisele

By far the best thing is for him to make a will.

If he has a joint account, then:

The deceased person may have held money with another person in a joint bank or building society account. Normally this means that the surviving joint owner automatically owns the money. The money does not form part of the deceased person's estate for the purpose of administration and therefore does not need to be dealt with by the executor or administrator. However, a deceased's person's share in joint property is treated as part of their estate for inheritance tax purposes, both on death and on gifts made during their lifetime.

The above is from DirectGov. The "normally" is my emphasis, but it matters - "normally" is not the same as "always". If there are family members who might claim that you'd got yourself added to the bank accounts so that you'd inherit (which on the face of it is what you're doing), you could end up with an expensive legal battle.

A will makes your father's wishes clear.

Naf

Exactly as Annisele said.
Get a will, but if you were join party, you could access and deal with the money exactly as if it was always in your account; you would be sole account holder.

meritaten

Annisele wrote: »

By far the best thing is for him to make a will.

If he has a joint account, then:

The above is from DirectGov. The "normally" is my emphasis, but it matters - "normally" is not the same as "always". If there are family members who might claim that you'd got yourself added to the bank accounts so that you'd inherit (which on the face of it is what you're doing), you could end up with an expensive legal battle.

A will makes your father's wishes clear.

my thoughts too!

hun, its difficult to deal with terminal cancer - and your dad is dealing with a lot. but the fact you have joint accounts wont protect you if the others decide to make a claim. if your dad doesnt want this then he can make a will. it DOESNT have to be through solicitors - you can buy forms or download a template - or he can write it on basildon bond or printer paper! the important thing is that HE makes his wishes known - appoints an executor and gets two people who dont inherit to witness his signature. as simple as that!

alun4

I just don't understand ..... why not make a will?

lulu650

If there's no wife or civil partner, the money goes to the children if there is no will.

A will would set everyone's mind at rest though. Perhaps the father can't cope with the thought of making a will yet, if he's still coming to terms with the cancer diagnosis?

G51shopaholic

While i would highly recommend a will be drawn up asap I would have thought that if you can be held liable for anything your OH does with an overdraft on a joint account, then as there is actually money inthe account; the £30k would go to the 2nd named account holder in the event of the death of the 1st. Check with the bank of this point.

My sister had joint account with her x - ~~£1000 overdraft facility for "emergencies". He emptied their joint account, including the £1000 overdraft and !!!!!! off with the thing he was having an affair with. My sister was left to pay off everything!

Mojisola

worto03 wrote: »

My Father has terminal cancer and is concerned that his family have access to his savings (approx. £30k) in the event of his death.

lulu650 wrote: »

If there's no wife or civil partner, the money goes to the children if there is no will.

What relation are the family members that he is worried about?

If he dies without a will, as lulu says, his money will go to his children. Here - https://www.youngandpearce.co.uk/intestrules.htm - are the rules.

Unless other people are being financially supported by him up to the time of his death, there are no grounds for anyone to make a claim.

The only problem with having joint accounts with your father is that you will become the owner of the money in the accounts. You can do the honourable thing and split that money with your brother but, if you are in receipt of any means-tested benefits, that could cause problems for you.

worto03

Hi - Just wanted to say thanks for all the replies, my partner has been too busy sorting some things out to get online much since posting, she'll be on at some point today.

thanks,
worto.

NickyBat

Good advice already given, get a will!