When is a surviving spouse no longer entitled?

antrobus

securityguy wrote: »

But surely, even if he were removed as administrator, that would not affect his position as effectively the sole beneficiary? Instead of him winding up the estate and taking the proceeds, someone else could wind up the estate and give him the proceeds. It doesn't make any practical difference to the outcome, does it?

More to the point, if the husband was the "sole beneficiary", then he would be the only one who could object to anyone acting as administrator. I don't believe the law permits random people to go around interfering in the settlement of estates, no matter how closely related they are to the deceased, or how strongly they feel that they 'should' have been beneficiaries.

madbadrob

Antorbus and Securityguy,

Where children are involved they can argue at a probate court that because the parents had been seperated for a large number of years and if they can show that there was no reason that one parent would want the money they had earned and saved during that estrangement a court can remove the entitlement from the surviving spouse. The trouble is this would be a lengthy and costly situation with the chances of a success being very small. As I said in my post losing the case would see both sides costs awarded against them and this would definitely cost a large amount of cash. If they won the money would come from the estate and or the other party should the judge so order. Unless there was some written evidence there is realistically no chance of this being successful and more so because the two parties were both still paying the mortgage or at least both still named on the mortgage. As I said in my initial post this is not something I would ever reccommend

Rob

antrobus

madbadrob wrote: »

....Where children are involved they can argue at a probate court that because the parents had been seperated for a large number of years and if they can show that there was no reason that one parent would want the money they had earned and saved during that estrangement a court can remove the entitlement from the surviving spouse. ...

A challenge under the Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependants) Act 1975 on the grounds of family provision might be a possibility. On the other hand, there is nothing in the OP to indicate that any of the surviving children or grandchildren were being maintained by the deceased, so I doubt that such a challenge would get very far.

duchy

How very sad that the lady's misplaced wish to keep up appearances has meant her wishes won't be followed. Amazing considering the length of estrangement that none of the family pointed out this outcome (or maybe they did and she wouldn't listen)

margaretclare

I'm a bit mystified by the wording. The mother's husband? Are we to understand that this is a second marriage, and the children and grandchildren are actually step-children and step-grandchildren of her husband?

Nevertheless, he was her legal spouse and so he inherits. Whether he chooses to honour his late wife's wishes in relation to her grandchildren, whether she ever expressed those wishes to him, it is entirely up to him.

What on earth are the 'appearances' she was trying to keep up? Because of 'family feelings' he lived separately. Family feelings? Poor man. Sounds as if they didn't approve and so ostracised him.

This thing about 'appearances' sounds a bit Victorian to me. In my own step-family there have been several divorces. DH has been divorced twice. No one even bats an eyelid.

Sweetrevenge

I agree with you that this is a very unfortunate outcome. I hesitate to disclose details relating to my friend's personal circumstances here, but as it is anonymous, and hoping that this will answer some of the opinions expressed, I will say that the first three children of the family were not the natural children of the husband. The fourth was. The other three were adopted by the husband. As they reached adolescence one was sexually abused by him. He also attempted to abuse (at least) one other, and then in later life one of the grandchildren. The mother could not accept that this had taken place, the family was split with some of them staying in contact with him, and some not. The husband and my friend, the victim of the abuse, were ostracized by the mother, but she didn't want to have to explain the reasons behind a divorce to anyone, so remained married. This also maintained her financial situation as he paid the bills, the mortgage having been paid off some time earlier. Whatever her motives, the outcome remains a painful and unresolved one.

I for one am appalled by the situations people face in their lives and I have learned a salutory lesson from this less than ideal outcome. "If you love them, make a will."

Thanks to everybody for their kind help in this. My friend is recovering slowly and has said that a settlement is irrelevant as it could never bring back the relationship with the mother that she loved and missed for many years. My reasons for seeking help were the strong sense of injustice I felt she (and the grandchildren) had suffered from.

Thanks to all x