Spouses claim on estate?

AHWBeverley

Long time reader but first time poster.

I am the named Executor for my MiL's will and have been using this Forum to learn all manner of interesting things - many thanks to all that contribute.

I have just received a payment from Barclays of around £12k that is an ISA my MiL had with them, when we visited FiL recently he claimed this money was his from when he retired. I have not seen or asked for any evidence, yet.

Now I don't have probate yet and so am not ready to begin any distribution at all (my wife is the sole beneficiary).

Question - does my FiL have any claim on this money? Am I legally obliged to distribute as per the Will or can FiL make the claim against the ISA?

Many thanks

Yorkshireman99

AHWBeverley wrote: »

Long time reader but first time poster.

I am the named Executor for my MiL's will and have been using this Forum to learn all manner of interesting things - many thanks to all that contribute.

I have just received a payment from Barclays of around £12k that is an ISA my MiL had with them, when we visited FiL recently he claimed this money was his from when he retired. I have not seen or asked for any evidence, yet.

Now I don't have probate yet and so am not ready to begin any distribution at all (my wife is the sole beneficiary).

Question - does my FiL have any claim on this money? Am I legally obliged to distribute as per the Will or can FiL make the claim against the ISA?

Many thanks

Unless the spouse has a claim that they were financially dependent then the will stands. Don't allow yourself to be bullied.

NordicNoir

Your FIL has every right to make a claim on the estate, it is up to you as Executor to decide whether it is a valid claim.

Often, married couples will spread money around between themselves to use ISA limits and get better rates etc. Only your wife will know how to go forward - you can ask for proof or take his word. If you said no, would your wife be able to risk upsetting her father?

When my Mum was alive, my aunt gave her £10k and said "buy yourself some premium bonds". What I did not know was that it was given on the basis of "if you die first, I will have it back". When my Mum died my aunt asked for it back. I would never doubt my aunt, so I took her word for it as I knew my she would not make it up (odd as it seemed).

Keep_pedalling

It is possible that it was originally his money but then put into an account in his wife's name to take advantage of her ISA allowance. That effectively would make it a gift to his wife, and the money is hers to what she wishes with it so he has no claim.

How does your wife feel about this? If he is in need and you believe this was the case she would be free to gift it too him if she felt it was right to do so, but initially you need to distribute the estate as the will instructs you too.

NordicNoir

This potential liability is no different than say amounts owed to BT, the electric co or overpaid pension that needs to be returned - all it does is reduce the residual that is due to the beneficiary, it does not mean that by giving FIL the money it is going against the will.

It is not right to assume that because it was in the MILs account that it was a gift, it could just as easily be beneficially owned by the FIL and the MIL holding it as bare trustee.

You could ask for proof but what if he is unable to do that? It will all come down to how much your wife trusts her father.

antrobus

AHWBeverley wrote: »

...Question - does my FiL have any claim on this money? Am I legally obliged to distribute as per the Will or can FiL make the claim against the ISA?...

Wrong question. The right question would be to ask your wife and sole beneficary what she thinks. As previously suggested, "married couples often spread money around between themselves", so it's quite possible that FIL regards it as 'his' money.

If your wife is happy to pay her father the £12k, then pay him. There is no Deceased Estate Police. No one is going to come aroound knocking on your door with an arrest warrant. This is family. What the law says only matters if people disagree.

Kore_Arabin

Did your MIL's Will leave anything to your FIL? If not then, depending on the circumstances, he may well have a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975. It is for him to make this claim (or otherwise for him to show some legal/beneficial claim to the ISA moneys). As executor, if you have been put on notice that there may be a claim of some sort, I would be loath to pay the money over to anyone until the claim had been resolved.


OTOH, as other posters have pointed out, your wife may wish to pass the ISA moneys to her father to maintain family harmony.

Yorkshireman99

You can't legally hold money on someone else's behalf in an ISA so there is no question of the ownership.

NordicNoir

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

You can't legally hold money on someone else's behalf in an ISA so there is no question of the ownership.

Oh come on, no question of ownership?

.... the real world is not so black and white! If the husband did give the money to use the allowance, it is still his, even if they technically broke the ISA rules.

No one knows the true intentions other than the husband. Say for example, the husband gave some money to his wife and said invest as you wish and keep the interest. If you pop off before me though, I want the principal back. The wife would be quite free to pop it in her ISA.

WYSPECIAL

MichelleUK wrote: »

Oh come on, no question of ownership?

.... the real world is not so black and white! If the husband did give the money to use the allowance, it is still his, even if they technically broke the ISA rules.

No one knows the true intentions other than the husband. Say for example, the husband gave some money to his wife and said invest as you wish and keep the interest. If you pop off before me though, I want the principal back. The wife would be quite free to pop it in her ISA.

And the wife would be quite free to gift it in her Will back to her husband.

You can't give a gift with reservations, if he gave it to his wife it is hers and now belongs to the sole beneficiary,. It is up to the beneficiary to decide what to do.

Yorkshireman99

You are plain wrong. You cannot give a gift with reservation and in any case it would break the ISA rules. There is no technical breah of the ISA rules as you claim. There are no degrees of the breach. The intentions of the husband have no relevance in such a case.