Uncle passed away without leaving a will...

blizeH

Hi,

My mum's uncle sadly passed away last week, and unfortunately didn't leave a will (he was a bit of a recluse, had a mountain of unopened letters including lots of unclaimed stocks, shares, bonds, Christmas cards, birthday cards and everything else) - his wife who died around 10 years before said they were going to leave all of the money to the nieces and nephews, but they can't find it anywhere - meaning all of the money is going to the government, and we're talking almost £1.5m here ;_;

My mum, for what it's worth, didn't expect to get anything anyway (she was only told about her aunties wishes yesterday), so it's not a money grabbing thing, and had always assumed it would go to a charity, one that my aunty was close to... so she's wondering at the very least, is there a way to help some of that money go to the charity instead of the government?

Thank you

mancitychick

If he had living relatives, which it appears he has, his estate will pass to them. It is only when no relative can be traced that an estate passes to the Crown.

One of you will need to apply for a grant of administration to enable you to sort out his estate.

Plans_all_plans

My understanding is that if he has KNOWN family, then they will inherit. The govt. only get money where there is no known family about.

Have a look here at instecacy rules: http://www.cornerstonewills.co.uk/laws-of-intestacy.php

daska

HMRC Inheritance Tax: Customer Guide
The estate is in England & Wales
There is no surviving spouse or civil partner
There are no children or remoter issue of the deceased
There are no surviving parents
There are surviving brothers or sisters, or issue of brothers and sisters, or remoter relatives of the deceased

If this is correct, the estate will pass to the surviving relatives on the following order of priority

brothers and sisters
issue of brothers and sisters
If there are no brothers or sisters or issue of brothers or sisters, then the estate passes to other remoter relatives in the following order of priority

brothers or sisters of half blood
grandparents
uncles and aunts
uncles and aunts of half blood

From your post it seems that your mum would qualify as 'issue of brothers or sisters'. If I've chosen the wrong options you can start again HERE

I do hope we're correct and this is good news for her. She can, of course, choose to donate as much as she wants to her auntie's favorite charity if she inherits.

blizeH

Thank you all so so much! I think yes, without a doubt if any money did make it's way to my mum she would give to the charity anyway, and still be left with a really life changing amount.

I don't mean this in a 'screw the government!' kind of way, but I really think any outcome going to any family members or a charity is preferable to it going to the state. Really appreciate all of your advice, thank you!

daska

Do come back and tell us how she gets on.

Assuming you have checked with any solicitor that you know your aunt/uncle used and with the local solicitors, just in case, your next step is to apply to the Probate Registry for Letters of Administration (not probate because there's no will).

meritaten

I was just about to post that daska! the relatives do need to set the ball rolling as the Probate service dont search for relatives!
The directgov site has good advice for applying for letters of administration - it IS possible to do everything yourself - but the estate does sound a bit complex - it may be worth ringing round some solicitors and comparing costs.

blizeH

Thank you all so much again, my uncle has spoke to a few solicitors and they told him that basically it's a lost cause, so it's very interesting to read all of this information! Mum didn't want to get involved too much as she didn't want to seem like she's money grabbing, but I think it's better to do whatever you can in these circumstances, especially since it was my great auntie's wishes

daska

If the solicitors have already said it's a lost cause could it be that we've made an incorrect assumption? You referred to your mum's uncle and his wife so I assumed you meant uncle by blood and wife by marriage. But what was your uncle's relationship to your mum? Was he your mum's parent's brother? Or was he your mum's parent's sister's husband?

Also, did your Aunt's estate go through Probate, if so there'll be a record of it which might give you a clue as to finding your uncle's will.

mpet

blizeH wrote: »

my uncle has spoke to a few solicitors and they told him that basically it's a lost cause

Are there any of your Mum's Uncles brothers and sisters still living? If so, the estate would be divided between them, and the solicitor saying it's a 'lost cause' may be referring to the deceased's wish for it to be split between neices and nephews.

blizeH

Okay, here's the complication - he has no blood relatives at all. He was married to my nan's sister, basically. She was the business owner who made all of that money, but I think when she passed away everything was automatically switched to him, ahhh.