Discovered finances

kazza169

Hi, my MiL passed away just over 3yrs ago in Spain (where she lived) She had been married just shy of 2yrs at the time so her husband dealt with all the finances etc. It now transpires that he didn't deal with anything from the uk.
About 6mths ago we received contact from both a pension company who weren't aware of her death & someone looking to track down next of kin due to money being left (will hunter company)
We have been trying to get in touch with her husband as he also had her death certificate but we have had no contact back & due to him living in Spain but also working around the globe & not being in great health last time we spoke (about 2.5yrs ago) we don't know if he has also since passed.
I have now managed to get the death certificate by going to the Spanish civil offices but does anyone know if we will have any issues dealing with all the finances that we have found in the U.K.?
Any advice/help would be appreciated.

Yorkshireman99

kazza169 wrote: »

Hi, my MiL passed away just over 3yrs ago in Spain (where she lived) She had been married just shy of 2yrs at the time so her husband dealt with all the finances etc. It now transpires that he didn't deal with anything from the uk.
About 6mths ago we received contact from both a pension company who weren't aware of her death & someone looking to track down next of kin due to money being left (will hunter company)
We have been trying to get in touch with her husband as he also had her death certificate but we have had no contact back & due to him living in Spain but also working around the globe & not being in great health last time we spoke (about 2.5yrs ago) we don't know if he has also since passed.
I have now managed to get the death certificate by going to the Spanish civil offices but does anyone know if we will have any issues dealing with all the finances that we have found in the U.K.?
Any advice/help would be appreciated.

Unless she left a UK will then then a close relative will need to applty for letters of administration to obtain probate. The intestacy rules will apply to her UK assets. More here on who inherits.

https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

Read this then come back with any queries. Plenty of help here.

kazza169

As far as I know she had a will in Spain set up after she got married but not sure about the UK!
Would you advise speaking with a solicitor next?

Yorkshireman99

kazza169 wrote: »

As far as I know she had a will in Spain set up after she got married but not sure about the UK!
Would you advise speaking with a solicitor next?

Not yet. The problem is that a Spanish will cannot dispose of assets in the UK. Also any UK will made before her marriage would now be invalid unless it specifically stated she was going to marry the person. The first £250,000 of any UK assets would go to here husband so any work you did would not result in you getting any of the funds. However the will hunting company would be worth following up as those funds might well become due to her children.

securityguy

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

Not yet. The problem is that a Spanish will cannot dispose of assets in the UK.

Well, as of a couple of years ago that isn't quite so obviously true.

The gory details here:

https://www.kingsleynapley.co.uk/insights/blogs/private-client-law-blog/the-eu-succession-regulation-now-in-force-how-will-it-affect-you

Yorkshireman99

securityguy wrote: »

Well, as of a couple of years ago that isn't quite so obviously true.

The gory details here:

https://www.kingsleynapley.co.uk/insights/blogs/private-client-law-blog/the-eu-succession-regulation-now-in-force-how-will-it-affect-you

These rules did not come into force until 17th August 2015 so the death preceded them.

kazza169

The will hunting company weren't interested as soon as they found out she lived/died in Spain!
Plus my parents do that for people so they're helping but using there business name they also haven't been able to get any response from the husband - things weren't left on great terms with him so we hoped he'd reply to them if not us.
In all honesty I'm not even sure there will he any money in it as she wasn't the best with finances but it's more about getting everything shut down now so it doesn't drag on any longer!

Savvy_Sue

kazza169 wrote: »

The will hunting company weren't interested as soon as they found out she lived/died in Spain!

that seems a bit odd to me - not that I know much about these things. Because if she would potentially have been a beneficiary had she still been alive, surely her next of kin are potentially beneficiaries - and some of them are alive!

I can (sort of) understand them not wanting to know if she was still alive, but only sort of because I didn't think not living in the UK ruled you out under the intestacy laws. But maybe the sums involved were too small to be worth pursuing?

Yorkshireman99

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

that seems a bit odd to me - not that I know much about these things. Because if she would potentially have been a beneficiary had she still been alive, surely her next of kin are potentially beneficiaries - and some of them are alive!

I can (sort of) understand them not wanting to know if she was still alive, but only sort of because I didn't think not living in the UK ruled you out under the intestacy laws. But maybe the sums involved were too small to be worth pursuing?

Living outside the UK does not disqualify from intestacy inheritance. Heir hunters often contact people and find they have the wrong person.

Savvy_Sue

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

Living outside the UK does not disqualify from intestacy inheritance. Heir hunters often contact people and find they have the wrong person.

Ah right, we've each got different understandings of what they said to the OP.

I thought "oh well if she lived and died in Spain it's too much bother".

You thought "oh well if she lived in Spain then she's not the one we're looking for"!

Yorkshireman99

Unlikely to be too much bother as the deceased's children might be potential beneficiaries. A claim needs to specify all known heirs.