Leaving no will...how bad could it be?

shamac

MY FIL is ill and will not be cured although time scales are unclear. He refuses to have anything to do with making a will, he is stubborn and won't even have the word spoken in the room with him, think he thinks it is some sort of bad luck!

He is married, the couple own house outright, worth about 120k. No savings, assets or debts. They are both in their early 70's. They have a joint bank account only that they have their pensions paid into. They have 3 adult children. What are the inplications of intestancy for my MIL? Will she end up not having access to the bank account and for how long? If so should she set up something in her own name just in case? What about the house? Any info would be great. Thank you.

Mikeyorks

The joint Bank account - simply translates into her ownership. She only needs to change it into her sole name at some convenient time in the future. It will need a Death Certificate to do that - but there are no other implications. And she doesn't need to tell the Bank until she wishes to make the change.

Same with the property - if jointly owned. It simply becomes hers. She can change the registration at some convenient time - if she chooses

dzug1

The estate isn't large enough from what you have said for the adult children to have any entitlement

CLAPTON

joint accounts are jointly and severally owned so they automatically become the survivor's (i.e. your MIL); she just continues to use the a/c as usual

if the house is owned as joint tenants then it automatically becomes your MILs

anything else the MIL get the first £250,000 plus personal chattels; after that it's abit more complicated: is that enough ?

shamac

Thanks guys sounds like I will be able to put her mind at rest, she has enough to worry about at the moment and was imagining herself penniless and on the streets I think!

Savvy_Sue

Just going to check that MIL does currently have access to the joint bank account, and knows how it works?

Because although that passes to her after death, there can occasionally be problems with joint accounts before death.

The one I heard about most recently was the couple where the husband had a serious accident and was in a coma. The wife went to the bank and said "please can we have a bit of leeway here, husband in a coma and not earning", and they promptly froze the joint account, to protect his half of the money ...

From that point of view, having her own account could be worthwhile. Then if FIL loses capacity before he dies, MIL can take appropriate action to avoid the joint account being frozen with all the money in it.

Mikeyorks

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

and they promptly froze the joint account, to protect his half of the money ...

There's no such thing as 'his half' or 'her half' with a joint account. As the wording in post #4 ...... they are jointly and severally owned. Therefore both parties own the entity.

Joint accounts are invaluable in the case of unexpected (or indeed expected) death. As they are never frozen on death and incoming and outgoing payments can continue regardless. Which is not the same for singular accounts - where the deceased account(s) must be frozen. And can cause significant problems if that's the primary input / output account.

Savvy_Sue

Mikeyorks wrote: »

There's no such thing as 'his half' or 'her half' with a joint account. As the wording in post #4 ...... they are jointly and severally owned. Therefore both parties own the entity.

Joint accounts are invaluable in the case of unexpected (or indeed expected) death. As they are never frozen on death and incoming and outgoing payments can continue regardless. Which is not the same for singular accounts - where the deceased account(s) must be frozen. And can cause significant problems if that's the primary input / output account.

I know what you're saying, but my point is that both single and joint accounts have their place.

If FIL is likely to lose 'capacity' before death, then having absolutely everything in a joint account could cause problems.

CLAPTON

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I know what you're saying, but my point is that both single and joint accounts have their place.

If FIL is likely to lose 'capacity' before death, then having absolutely everything in a joint account could cause problems.

I'm confused

in what way is a joint and severally a/c not a joint and several a/c?

now if you are saying that bank clerks don't know much about banking then yes I would agree

Mikeyorks

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I know what you're saying, but my point is that both single and joint accounts have their place.

Indeed - and we have both. My wife has her own account which is predominantly the housekeeping +. But the joint account receives all our income and pays all our bills.

If FIL is likely to lose 'capacity' before death, then having absolutely everything in a joint account could cause problems

.......... I disagree fundamentally. In our case - whichever of us goes first ...... income continues to be received unimpeded and bills continue to be paid via the joint account. If the deceased owns the singular account - that could be frozen for months until Probate is granted. The joint account gives a flexibility the singular account cannot match.

Savvy_Sue

I'm not talking about what happens after death: I'm talking about possible problems before death.

If the only account is a joint account, and FIL cannot operate it, and the bank realises this, then it is possible for them to 'freeze' the joint account.