No will, family fued, missing money?

Tubby921

Hi there...

My partners mother passed away in October due to huntingtons disease and she left no will. We have had a letter from a solicitors asking if my partners brother can sort all finances out etc and he agreed. Now we have been informed that there is an estimated figure of how much money his mothers has left after selling the house. But with selling the house, his father was meant to get 50% and he did, but gave back 25% to his brother to put back into his mums estate. Now what we would like to know is that if he hasn't put this money back what happens? Now his brothers had access to his mums money for about a year before she passed on and we have no clue what was paid debt wise. There is a family fued going on that went on long before the death. His father said there was x amount of money left without the money he returned for the sale of the house. I don't think it's fair that one son gets more than the other so if he's hasn't put his fathers share back into his mums account like he said he would then how can we go to prove this and sort it out fairly?
Also how long does it all take? His mother was put into a care home a year before she passed and the house also got sold as soon as she left. I know probate can take a while.
Thanks.

getmore4less

Is/was your husbands mothers spouse(need to be married) still alive at th time of her death.

what was the value of her estate

if there was a fued WHY did you agree to the brother doing the administration?

madbadrob

Firstly if your partners mother was married to the father and she died intestate he would inherit the first 250k of the estate and have a 50% life interest in the remainder of the money. This 50% would then be paid back to the estate for distribution to the children. The father would only be entitled to the interest from the 50% which should have been invested. It is not clear from your post if this is what you meant. I am also surprised that with property involved that the solicitor would want to pass this off to anyone else to administer. I know within my line of work that estates over 30k require a probate solicitor to administer. I am not sure if this is TSoL requirements or a requirement by law although reading some of the posts in this forum I now suspect its a TSoL requirement

Rob

getmore4less

madbadrob wrote: »

I know within my line of work that estates over 30k require a probate solicitor to administer. I am not sure if this is TSoL requirements or a requirement by law although reading some of the posts in this forum I now suspect its a TSoL requirement

Rob

There is no requirement(legal or otherwise) to have a solicitor administer or be involved in an estate in the UK.

madbadrob

getmore4less wrote: »

There is no requirement(legal or otherwise) to have a solicitor administer or be involved in an estate in the UK.

However estates over 30k TSoL require us to use a solicitor to administrate the intestate estate. Hence why I said I suspect its a TSoL requirement

Rob

Errata

madbadrob wrote: »

However estates over 30k TSoL require us to use a solicitor to administrate the intestate estate. Hence why I said I suspect its a TSoL requirement

Rob

I have no idea who 'us' refers to or what TSol is - could you clarify.

getmore4less

Errata wrote: »

I have no idea who 'us' refers to or what TSol is - could you clarify.

http://www.tsol.gov.uk/

Looks like (s)he works there so internal rules not relevent in the real world..

Benifitiaries of an intestate estate can administer without solicitors once the court accepts them.

the relevent department that deals with intestate estates
http://www.bonavacantia.gov.uk/output/

I think these are the people that Heirhunters deal with when they find relatives of estates on the list

http://www.bonavacantia.gov.uk/output/are-you-an-entitled-relative.aspx

Kore_Arabin

Are you sure that a solicitor has contacted your partner's brother? And not a genealogist?

It also sounds as if the house was sold before she died, so probate would appear to be irrelevant? If so, have care fees been paid from the sale proceeds?

Without more details, it is extremely difficult to advise you.

madbadrob

getmore4less wrote: »

http://www.tsol.gov.uk/

Looks like (s)he works there so internal rules not relevent in the real world..

Benifitiaries of an intestate estate can administer without solicitors once the court accepts them.

the relevent department that deals with intestate estates
http://www.bonavacantia.gov.uk/output/

I think these are the people that Heirhunters deal with when they find relatives of estates on the list

http://www.bonavacantia.gov.uk/output/are-you-an-entitled-relative.aspx

HE does not work for TSoL which for the OP is The Treasury Solicitor. In my post "us" refers to probate researchers better known to many as heir hunters. Heir Hunters is a term I detest as it makes us sound like the people who used to stand outside hospitals or chasing ambulances to try and sign up injured people for claim making. This is however irrelevant to the OP.

Rob

getmore4less

madbadrob wrote: »

HE does not work for TSoL which for the OP is The Treasury Solicitor. In my post "us" refers to probate researchers better known to many as heir hunters. Heir Hunters is a term I detest as it makes us sound like the people who used to stand outside hospitals or chasing ambulances to try and sign up injured people for claim making. This is however irrelevant to the OP.

Rob

With the BBC program suprised more people are not catching on that once you have been "found" there is no need to sign up and loose part of your share, you will get it anyway.

How often do you advise the benifitiaries they could do the admin and save the solictors fees.

Kore_Arabin

getmore4less wrote: »

With the BBC program suprised more people are not catching on that once you have been "found" there is no need to sign up and loose part of your share, you will get it anyway.

How often do you advise the benifitiaries they could do the admin and save the solictors fees.

This is stupid. If a genealogist has done the work in tracing the beneficiaries, s/he should be paid for providing information those beneficiaries would otherwise never know.

I have administered many estates that were originally referred to TSol. In most cases, the TSol had taken out a grant of representation and had begun to administer the estates bona vacantia. The intestacies were referred to the TSol *because* the next of kin did not know the deceased and therefore had no idea that they had inherited anything from someone they didn't know. Often the next of kin will turn out to be scattered all over the world!

In my experience, genealogists contact the next of kin and tell them that they need to obtain letters of administration, and the beneficiaries then ask the genealogist how to do that.