Will situation - getting desperate for advice!

Sitbh

Hi guys. I'm seeking some Will advice that may get a bit complicated here but bare with me.

Bit of backstory: My dad lived in America (Indiana) for the past 7 years. He recently died (August 2011) of cancer. I was on fairly good terms with him and was out there with my sister when it happened.

I'm not on great terms with my stepmum - I thought i was but i am starting to think the opposite.

My dad was a bank manager for HSBC over here for some 35 years. He was made redundant just before he moved to the states so he would have received a lump sum from them (plus extra money for having two children). He remortgaged the house just before he left too(my mum being oblivious to what he was planning).

Since his death in USA, i have his death certificate. His place of work has given 3 years health care and 1 year salary to my stepmum. She has since (AFAIK) tried to gather his assets/estate and has also been in touch with the HSBC pension scheme over here (i know this because i got in touch with them too). They would not tell me if there was any pension left here, and would only tell me if there was (and how much there was) if they saw i was entitled to it. They told me a decision would be made (late November 2011) and whoever was entitled to anything (if there was anything) would hear from them. Otherwise, no other information would be given.

I did not hear from them.

My stepmum has since pretty much vanished. I have received maybe 2 emails since that decision was made, both of which were simple and out of the blue. All other contact I have made has been ignored (even replies to the emails she has sent me/my sister).

I have not heard about any kind of Will relating to my dad. I have not been told what my stepmum is doing with any of his assets or what she has received from banks/pension-wise etc.

So here is where I am stuck. I have sent off a form today (and fee) to HM courts and tribunal services to search for a will/grant in this country. I don't even know if they will know if he has passed away or not.. so that may very well come back with nothing.

I don't even know if he had a will, and if so, was it over here? Or in Indiana (USA). I have tried googling but found nothing similar to the Will-finding facility we have over here, for Indiana. I am not on terms with my stepmum where i can ask her a question and receive a response, let alone a truthful response.

They have a house out there (and i seem to remember she complained about having such a long mortgage left on it.. despite being in her 60s and my dad being 59 when he passed - would a bank give them a mortgage THAT long at such an age with very decent salaries (stepmum = self employed psychologist. dad = bank manager). Surely that is an asset me/my sister may be entitled to?? But who decides and how is that enforced?!

I am very stuck, and as a minimum wage worker i dont have the funds to sit down with a lawyer and discuss this. Any advice is very much welcome!

Thanks guys.

Emmzi

first, you do not get "extra" redundancy money for having children.

Is this the position:-

your dad, in a calculated way, took his lump sum, remortgaged the family home, and moved overseas to be with another woman

Were you in touch with him?
Did he ever indicate he was going to leave you anything?

swingaloo

Im sorry for your loss and cant help with the American side of things, I dont know how to search for the will but hopefully someone will come along to advise.

However Im confused as to why you and your sister feel you would be entitled to the house. I would imagine that his wife would inherit that along with the outstading mortgage.
As for his pension, would that not have been sorted when he divorced your mum?

Mojisola

This throws up a lot of problems.

As a bank manager, you would expect him to have made a will but people are strange and he may not have done.

If there was a will kept at home, it wouldn't be the first will in the world to disappear if the person who found it would benefit more from the intestacy rules.

What does your sister think about things? Is she willing to pursue the matter with you?

I can't imagine that you would have any rights to the marital home.

A quick google has found this - https://www.ehow.com/facts_6048311_indiana-inheritance-law.html

BitterAndTwisted

Your father's wife could have quite legitimately inherited everything he left behind. And could have quite legitimate reasons for not wishing to have any further contact with you. Unless you are able to navigate the laws around wills and intestacy in the US (and they could differ from state to state) you are most likely going to make yourselves very, very unhappy indeed.

Sitbh

Emmzi wrote: »

first, you do not get "extra" redundancy money for having children.

Is this the position:-

your dad, in a calculated way, took his lump sum, remortgaged the family home, and moved overseas to be with another woman

Were you in touch with him?
Did he ever indicate he was going to leave you anything?

He did get 'extra' redundancy money for having children (i believe 5k per child) which was a HSBC decision.

I was in touch with him yes. Despite his calculated moves, i went out to see him for 1-2 weeks every summer and kept in touch every other week over the phone. He never spoke of leaving anything to me or my sister.

swingaloo wrote: »

Im sorry for your loss and cant help with the American side of things, I dont know how to search for the will but hopefully someone will come along to advise.

However Im confused as to why you and your sister feel you would be entitled to the house. I would imagine that his wife would inherit that along with the outstading mortgage.
As for his pension, would that not have been sorted when he divorced your mum?

Unfortunately my mum knows nothing of his pension (only that he had one) so nothing was sorted at that time. The fact my stepmum got in touch with HSBC regarding it shows there was a chance he left something over here.

As for their property. As i understood it, she would be entitled to half, and the other half would be split equally across his children. It's worth nothing my stepmum has no children of her own.

Mojisola wrote: »

This throws up a lot of problems.

As a bank manager, you would expect him to have made a will but people are strange and he may not have done.

If there was a will kept at home, it wouldn't be the first will in the world to disappear if the person who found it would benefit more from the intestacy rules.

What does your sister think about things? Is she willing to pursue the matter with you?

I can't imagine that you would have any rights to the marital home.

A quick google has found this - www.ehow.com/facts_6048311_indiana-inheritance-law.html

You are right in thinking a bank manager would create a will. Especially being diagnosed with cancer, then surviving it (for a year) then being rediagnosed and dying from it. My sister was 'openly upset' about it all (i took the bravado route and kept my cool.. someone had to) but she is very much as confused as I and also seeks answers. But discussing this with her for longer than a few minutes brings her into tears. She is happy for me to to this though.

Thanks for the link btw!

Mojisola

Bearing in mind B&T's good advice, if you feel you have to pursue it to know the details, you should be able to get a copy of the will. Google and see who to ask in the Indiana government offices.

Sitbh

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Your father's wife could have quite legitimately inherited everything he left behind. And could have quite legitimate reasons for not wishing to have any further contact with you. Unless you are able to navigate the laws around wills and intestacy in the US (and they could differ from state to state) you are most likely going to make yourselves very, very unhappy indeed.

From the link above ^

"If the decedent has a descendant from a previous marriage, the surviving spouse inherits only one-quarter of the value of any real property."

Does this not give me/my sister any kind of entitlement to his estate?

Whether I receive anything or not, i'd like an answer on what happened. If my father had a will, or if he did not. The fact my stepmum has done a vanishing act, makes me smell a fish.

System

This assumes that no will was made in America. Something that neither we nor the OP has yet determined.

If there was a will and everything left to the step-mum then considering step-mum & step children didn't get on then there is no reason why the step-mum should stay in contact

BitterAndTwisted

It would make me smell a fish, too. But what, if anything, you are able to do about it remains to be seen. People can be found if you have the wit to do so. If she's a psychologist then she will belong to a professional organisation, or either be teaching or practicing somewhere over there.

Whether delving into all this will get you any answers, I cannot say. It might mean a whole new world of pain for you all and no resolution.

Mojisola

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Whether delving into all this will get you any answers, I cannot say. It might mean a whole new world of pain for you all and no resolution.

And money you don't have being paid out to lawyers!