Separated husband passes away

madcow63

Hello, first time on here for me, my husband and I were separated for 3 years when he sadly passed away in January of this year, my name is on his death certificate, but his sister was the executor of his funds, he had a death in service and life insurance policy, but do not know if he has a will, my husband and I were amicable. Am I entitled to any of the funds (I cannot talk to his sister as she wont even talk to me). Even though she put me on his death certificate.
Can anyone please advise?
Thanks


Caroline

elsien

Did he leave a will or die intestate, do you know?

Yorkshireman99

madcow63 wrote: »

Hello, first time on here for me, my husband and I were separated for 3 years when he sadly passed away in January of this year, my name is on his death certificate, but his sister was the executor of his funds, he had a death in service and life insurance policy, but do not know if he has a will, my husband and I were amicable. Am I entitled to any of the funds (I cannot talk to his sister as she wont even talk to me). Even though she put me on his death certificate.
Can anyone please advise?
Thanks


Caroline

If there is a will then the executor has to deal with it. If there is no will then you, as the nearest relative, can apply for l tiers of administration. In any case do try and communicate with the sister who needs to cooperate.

SevenOfNine

It's a distinct probability that he had a named beneficiary on both the death in service & the life policy.....which may not have been you.

If not, then for the former the trustees will have some discretion but 'entitled', no. TBH if you were not named as beneficiary it's more likely the '3 years separated' will influence their decision to stay with the named beneficiary.

Don't know about the latter.

Have you offered to share (or pay) the cost of the funeral or just wondering if you're entitled to a legacy?

madcow63

Hi, his sister will not talk to me unless it's through a solicitor, with regards the funeral I was not asked, even though I was with him everyday at the hospice. Because of how she was I didn't go to pay my respects, but she knew that we were getting on before he passed.

Silvertabby

Did he have any pension rights? He may have nominated someone other than the OP to receive a death grant lump sum, but many pension schemes will still pay a spouse's pension when separated.

DigForVictory

Can you get hold of a copy of the Will? It shouldn't be a private document if the estate is over £5K, so you should be able to find out just what your loved one has landed her with.

If you can show she has not acted according to the Will, you can apply to replace her, but that would really put the welly into a hornet's nest.

She's grieving too, but it might help you both to cooperate. Also lawyers are expensive - is there any family member she can use as a communications route that won't bill her by the hour?

KRB2725

How did she put you on the death certificate? I thought the person that registered the death was put on there?

If probate has been applied for, the will becomes a public document. You can search online to see if probate has been granted and then pay £10 (I think) for a copy.

TonyMMM

emmatthews wrote: »

How did she put you on the death certificate? I thought the person that registered the death was put on there?

Marital (and civil partner) relationships are recorded on death certificates so he would have correctly been described as "husband of .........."

TBagpuss

OK, If he had not made a will, then because you were only separated, not divorced, you would be entitled to the first £250,000 (more, if there are no children)

If he made a will when you were together and he didn't change that, than you would be entitled to whatever he left you in that will.

If he made a will after you separated then that would be followed.

BUT if you didn't divorce or sort out your finances when you separated it is possible that you might have a claim against any estate, as his spouse, under the inheritance act. That would normally be an expensive option.

Step one would be to check whether his sister has applied for probate, if so, you can get a copy of the will.
If you know that there were life insurance policies or a pension you could also contact the insurer / pension provider directly, explain the situation and ask. The worst they can do is tell you they can't tell you anything.

Marktheshark

Contact the probate office and request a copy of the will,
If there is no will, contact a solicitor quickly before she spends any of it.