Scottish Question - Please help

jayney123

Hi,
Hope someone can help please.
I have a relative who died two weeks before my discharge. They did not leave me anything in their will BUT the beneficiary (who does not know about my BR) wants to change the will by 'deed of variation' to give myself and a few other relatives a cash amount.
I know I have to inform the AIB, as I'm on an IPA, but will I have to surrender the whole amount to them as the date of death was before my discharge?
I've got this far without telling my family about the BR and just don't want to have to do it now after I've been discharged!
Hope someone can help, thanks.

jayney123

If the deed of variation goes ahead, it will be dated after my discharge.

jayney123

Hi, Can anybody help please?

hattybee

The basic rule is that if you acquire anything after your discharge, the Trustee / AiB can’t generally get their hands on it.
Anything left to you in a will can only be grabbed by the AiB if the person dies before your discharge.
As far as I’m aware, a deed of variation basically re-writes the will as at the date of the person’s death, so it would be as if you had been left the money in the will. And the AiB would be able to take it all. (but I'm not an expert on wills and succession, so I may be wrong)
I should have a quiet word with the solicitor who is handling the will. He/she should be able to advise in confidence.

jayney123

Thanks hattybee.

Anyone else able to shed more light on the matter?

coolcait

I go along with hattybee's view and advice on this one. I think there's a very strong possibility that then money would go to your trustee (for the reasons that hattybee gave), but your best bet would be to get advice from someone who knows about wills and succession issues.

jayney123

Thanks coolcait,
I know if I let the person know I'm bankrupt, the will won't be changed to include me, as they had planned to give me a share to keep for my child's education, and I probably won't be spoken too again.
Not the news I was hoping for and I can't afford legal advice. The CAB here are pretty useless, so no use going to them.
Guess I'll just have to become the black sheep of the family after managing to keep it from them for so long.

coolcait

It's a tough situation for you

But, if the money is intended for your child's education, could you suggest that the Deed of Variation has it put into a trust (or something) specifically for that purpose?

You wouldn't need to tell your family about your bankruptcy if you didn't want to. You could just point out that - that way - your child's education fund would be safe, even if anything happened to you. You could make generalised references to 'the way things are now' and 'just want to be absolutely sure that [child's] education fund is safe whatever happens'. No doubt, that would have been what [your late relative] would have wanted...?

If you do end up telling your famly about your bankruptcy, they might surprise you with their understanding. But that has to be your call. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Raphael

I agree with Coolcait, if it's specifically earmarked for your child's education, ask them to consider making sure it can only be used for that purpose (setting up a trust? or other people might have suggestions as I don't know that much about those things) to "be safe just in case" without going into more detail.

They might infer that you have debts / money problems but you won't need to tell them you're bankrupt. I know how you feel though, none of my family know about my bankruptcy (doubt they'd understand), there's only a couple of close friends who know because I feel I can talk to them openly (and strangers I've had to tell, like the letting agency I rent from).