Inheritance goes to care person

poppyscorner

My hubbys ex has wished her own parents dead for years constantly talking about how much she will be worth in fact that is how she has come to be with her new partner she has told him all about it and he has openly said in his place of work that he is with her because of it she makes his skin crawl but he is sticking around as both parents are in very ill health and there is about 400,000 to be had. Myself I try to not think about any of it I can't bear the thought of being without my parents but if they asked my advice I would rather they blew the lot on whatever their hearts desire and thorougly enjoy their latter years together than worry about leaving something behind I know it is a very morbid topic and one we dont discuss often enough probably my mum had the same advice for my gran who died last year gran was concerned she had 7 kids and most of them never bothered with her until that is they knew she was dying my gran was of sound mind and she knew what was going on my mum had told her for years leave it all to the church but she never got round to the will and after she died exactly what she didnt want to happen did they gathered cleared her house and rubbed their hands together when they got what they wanted two of them didnt bother to show at her funeral but they quickly provided their details for the payout.
To the OP I am genuinely sorry for your losses and feel that something untoward has gone on in my job for the NHS I have it in my contract that I cannot be the beneficiary of any person I care for in their will I think it is a fair rule as tbh I am paid for my job and that is enough I wouldn't want their money after their death especially as some of them have the loveliest families I have ever had the pleasure of knowing I do not think it is appropriate as someone else said it may be worth looking into it but it may also be a long drawn out process that eventually gets you nowhere. x

TheWaltons_3

Aside from Poppyscorner, who gave great advice - I think a few people have been a little harsh on the OP. Think about it. His Mum died, his Dad had control of any Estate, then Step Mum comes along and leaves it all to her sodding carer? Is this what the Dad would have wanted? Or his poor dead Mum who had no control over any of this?

And why the hell didn't the Carer contact you?! You could have contested the Will you know. She was your Step-Mother. God, in hospitals and Nursing homes you're in big trouble for receiving a bloody Quality Street... let alone an Estate!

Curious_George_2

I dont think they are being harsh exactly, but you are being a little presumtuous! so just for the hell of it i will play the devils advocate to your post! (sorry )
the father died in 1950 so im guessing the OP had recovered from the shock,
and he had no idea that his step mother had passed away until he found out by chance over 2 years later,
it sounds like he had no contact with her at all, and at her age there is a possibility that he was little more than a fading memory, where as her carer / friend was probably on hand every day,

i also think that if the dad had wanted to pass on anything of great worth to his son, he would have done it himself... not left it down to his spouse to deal with over 50 years later,

as the OP had little to no contact then who is to say the carer had any phone numbers or addresses for him?
eg -i havent seen my nan for years, and she lives in my road...(seriously... 5 mins walk away) she couldnt contact me if she tried and neither could her carers... (and thats the way i like it)

yes changing a will at her age sounds a bit unusual but who is to say she hadnt been stewing about lack of contact for ages and one day thought...why should "the family" get any of this money for doing nothing when my carers look after me every day and went and changed it

TheWaltons_3

He was sole beneficiary in the former will - wouldn't you have been a bit put out?

Curious_George_2

a little I suppose, but things and people change...

if he has reason to believe that the carers duped a confused old woman into changing her will then fair enough, look into it (if anything can actually be done after all this time)
im sure the solicitors put the usual ad in the papers asking for people to come forward who think they have a claim on a certain estate, if they had no other way of contacting him (as they were not close anymore) then what else was supposed to happen?

i guess the twisted moral here is if you want a look in as far as inheritence goes, then you cant go for years with no contact and still expect a handout

liney

I'm reading into this that dad didnt make a will, because when he died 50 years ago he wasn't of the age to expect to pass on, thus leaving his next of kin (step mother) his estate.

The OP said they saw the Step Mother until 6 years ago when the OP had cancer, and assuming the lady wasnt well enough ( having a carer and being aged 90) she didnt visit the OP and the OP was too ill to visit step mom.

In this time the carer has become sole beneficary, and didnt even bother to inform the (sick with cancer) OP that his step mother had passed away. I am therefore betting that during the trip to the solicitors the words 'but what about 'John', your stepson' were not uttered.

I dont see the OP as being wrong to expect an inheritence, afterall if his father had made a will when he was a young man, he would have been unlikely to have been left nothing, as they worked together and were assumedly on good terms.

Personally the carer things stinks in my opionion, but practically i imagine there is nothing that can be done.

Moral of the story, MAKE A WILL, right now if you haven't got one. Especially if you have children.

Sharifa_2

Denis - I think you're handling this graciously, and well done for saying you're not going to dwell on it.

poppyscorner

Curious_George wrote: »

I dont think they are being harsh exactly, but you are being a little presumtuous! so just for the hell of it i will play the devils advocate to your post! (sorry )
the father died in 1950 so im guessing the OP had recovered from the shock,
and he had no idea that his step mother had passed away until he found out by chance over 2 years later,
it sounds like he had no contact with her at all, and at her age there is a possibility that he was little more than a fading memory, where as her carer / friend was probably on hand every day,

i also think that if the dad had wanted to pass on anything of great worth to his son, he would have done it himself... not left it down to his spouse to deal with over 50 years later,

as the OP had little to no contact then who is to say the carer had any phone numbers or addresses for him?
eg -i havent seen my nan for years, and she lives in my road...(seriously... 5 mins walk away) she couldnt contact me if she tried and neither could her carers... (and thats the way i like it)

yes changing a will at her age sounds a bit unusual but who is to say she hadnt been stewing about lack of contact for ages and one day thought...why should "the family" get any of this money for doing nothing when my carers look after me every day and went and changed it

Curious George I agree with alot of what you say i.e OP would have known had they been in contact that his stepmum had passed away.

BUT

I still stand where I origionally did I think something very wrong has taken place and even worse doubt it will ever be put right I think it is completely wrong that the carer has become the main beneficiary of this lady's will I think it is completely unethical and goes against all the morals of being a carer and I think the 'carer' saw this lady coming so to speak. Whether in law it is right or not has nothing to do with me I am not a solicitor but I am a carer and I wouldn't dream of doing anything like what they have done a clients own financial matters are their own business where they can manage them and where they can't I have to ensure that their money is spent with great care there are all sorts of accusations that can be made we had one mum of a client who would try and give individual staff presents at christmas and we werent even allowed to take that (was a bottle of wine) I wonder if the carers employer knows about the whole thing I would like to bet they don't. I think also that the fact that this was done when he was off the scene suffering with cancer is an ideal opportunity for some unscrupulous (sp?) person wanting to get their claws in.

Curious_George_2

fair enough poppy,
I seem to remember when my mum was a carer in a home she wasnt allowed to accept presents at any time, but when she was a home help to one lady (im unsure if this was a private arrangement or not) that the housebound lady in question had no close family, and mum and the other carers were left something in the will for being the only people she saw in the last years of her life, i dont recall there being any problems with this... but then again it was a small sum of money, not an estate!

we cant pretend this underhand crap doesnt happen all the time... and maybe something dodgy did go on, or maybe the old girl changed the will in her right mind but either way im pretty sure the solicitors have to advertise for any other claimaints to a will for a certain amount of time, after this... i doubt there is any comebacks wether here has been any wrong doing or not,
the legal types do love thier small print that can stop an enquiry like this in its tracks!

localhero

I agree with Poppy on this one. Whether he visited step-mum regularly or not, his dad would probably be turning in his grave now.

Legally, a Will can be contested within 6 months unless special circumstances exist. I would think having cancer and not being notified is a very good reason personally.

The possible grounds are was that there was undue influence supplied by carer. 1) Was carer present whilst solicitor took the instructions? (Because he should really speak to client alone).

2) Was the step mum of sound mind? Being old does not mean you've lost it, but did she suffer or die from any kind of dementia? If so, for that reason or reason 1 the 2nd will will be invalid and the 1st will would still stand.

I would obtain a copy of the will from the probate registry myself - I also feel also the thing stinks. Solicitors are well insured, if he's done anything unethical you can make a claim against solicitor's insurers.

I would delve a little deeper and take good legal advice before letting this one go.