First wife wants to take control of ex husbands funeral

Mojisola

Bath_cube wrote: »

Got home to hear that my cousin has contacted a number for the local probate office. Now her husbands daughter is saying when my cousin dies any property etc should go to her or her brother and my cousin can't sell the house and move away elsewhere. My cousin wants to sell up and move away once all this is over.

She really needs to completely cut communications with them.

She can do what she wants with her house.

If she doesn't have anyone specific that she wants to leave her estate to, she could leave something to her husband's children but if they keep on badgering her, she probably won't want to.

Bath_cube

On the deeds to the house only her husbands name in on them. They moved to this present house 5 years ago having sold the previous one. If they were married when the present property was purchased shouldn't the solicitor have named my cousin on them too?. It looks like her husband wanted everything in his name only. I don't like to say this but she might be better off and happier now he is dead and I think she feels like I do.

TBagpuss

No. Whose name the house was put into would have been down to the instructions given at the time - the solicitor would have had no power to add your cousin.

The critical thing here is what does the will say?

Assuming that it either leaves everything to the wife, or that it specifically leaves the house to her , then what the children think and say is irrelevant.

I would suggest that your cousin goes to see a solicitor with the will, and the information she has about the house ownership.

Your cousin is free to make her own will. There is no automatic right for adult children to inherit. If the will leaves wife a life interest then things get more complicated, and she would need to speak to a solicitor, but even then it is likely that she would be able to move if she wanted to.

Savvy_Sue

Bath_cube wrote: »

Got home to hear that my cousin has contacted a number for the local probate office. Now her husbands daughter is saying when my cousin dies any property etc should go to her or her brother and my cousin can't sell the house and move away elsewhere. My cousin wants to sell up and move away once all this is over.

IF the will leaves her only a Life Interest in the house, then this is possibly correct - it would mean that she was entitled to live in the house but that her husband had not left it to her. but I think a DIY will pack is unlikely to cover that eventuality.

Loanranger

If she uses a solicitor for probate she may find that she racks up a large bill as the other side, the ex and the children, are using a solicitor and the two solicitors will be writing expensive letters. Your cousin will have to pay for all the letters her solicitor sends. Far better for your cousin to sort the probate herself with your help, it is not difficult and there is plenty of advice on line from the Probate Office about what to do.
The important thing is not engage with his ex and children at all. They have no rights whatsoever.

Loanranger

PS If she does use a solicitor get an estimate and tell the solicitor it is contested.

clearingout

If nothing at all has been left to the children, I can imagine how awful that must feel. At the very least, I would make sure they have access to some of his possessions as keepsakes and it would surely be reasonable to make provision for them to receive whatever was their father's when your cousin passes on. Surely if they have been in your cousin's life for 17 years, she would want to do this?

gettingtheresometime

clearingout wrote: »

If nothing at all has been left to the children, I can imagine how awful that must feel. At the very least, I would make sure they have access to some of his possessions as keepsakes and it would surely be reasonable to make provision for them to receive whatever was their father's when your cousin passes on. Surely if they have been in your cousin's life for 17 years, she would want to do this?

I've been following this thread & have read nothing to suggest the cousin would have refused them any of their late father's possessions

She's obviously a better person than I am as if I had been treated in a similar way by my stepchildren, they would have had a short sharp kick in touch.

Bath_cube

If it was on my cousins shoes I would have used the big F word to them long before now. I'm pleased that she has had some legal advice and was told that his ex and her over grown kids don't have a snowball in hello chance of trying to contest this. The house is only worth around one hundred and thirty thousand plus with savings and policies the total is way below the 250k threshold for probate. The son as I mentioned earlier is living with his mum and has tried to argue he needs some of the estate to buy a place of his own and that he may gain custody of his child one day. This remains to be seen since as his ex partners mother has been granted guardianship by the family courts and he can he has only just been allowed to see the child under supervision at a centre. Therefore probably unlikely he will have the child living with him until it comes of age and is capable of making their own decision. His mum (my cousins husbands ex wife) owns a 3 bed property whilst my cousins is only a 2 bed. So his son has a roof over his head anyway.

Yorkshireman99

What is this £250,000 probate limit you talk of?