Will and inheritence

flower11

Hope someone can put a light on a situation that myself and siblings have found ourselves in.

In the middle of last week, my sister received a letter from a woman with no more than an email address to reply to telling her that her father had died in early 2016 and she thought that there were a few personal possessions of possible sentimental value that might go to her.

Stunned, of course. Our father than deliberately created a new life for himself when we were in our teens, had remarried, changed is name and gathered us all together to let us know he no longer wanted to be our father! Nice guy eh.

Fast forward 40 years. We never lost site of him. One or other of us would make an appearance every few years, either in person, by phone or birthday/xmas card. Not an easy person to find at times, but we would always find him somewhere. His wife died and he had a series of relationships but no more marriages and no more children.

Last contact in person was late Summer 2014. He was sat alone in a house that was up for sale with no furniture as the lady he had been living with had taken it all with her when she left!

My sister responded to the lady via the email address she gave, asking for information and also wondering why it had taken nearly 2 years to contact his family.

We have heard nothing.

First thing we did was check the whether a death had been registered in his new name as he could have just been trying to disappear again. But sadly no. He had passed.

She applied for a copy of the death certificate and probate papers.

The probate arrived this afternoon with his will. The will was made a few weeks before his death. It left over £350K to a variety of people including 50% going to the lady who had contacted my sister.

There is no mention of his actual family in any form in the papers.

Is this worth an investigate? If so, where would be start. I thought probably the solicitor named as drawing up the will. There are two executors, both of whom receive sums.

Any thoughts at this time would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

macman

It's assumed that your parents subsequently divorced, so there would have been a financial settlement at the time (unless he remarried without divorcing, in which case his second marriage was bigamous and invalid).
He had no responsibility to maintain his children once they become adults.
I'm not clear exactly what you are trying to achieve here? Do you suspect that there are other undeclared assets, or that his will was made when he was not of sound mind?
If the latter, then challenging it would be extremely difficult, as you were not in contact with him.
There is no issue with the executors receiving legacies.

lincroft1710

There is no legal obligation in England and Wales for non dependant family members to inherit anything from their deceased relative's estate. Your father didn't want to you in his life and therefore it is to be expected his will would reflect this.

paddy's_mum

Sorry, but "investigate" what?

You already know that he truly is dead as you have had sight of the death certificate. You already know that his will has been checked and found to be valid as you have a copy of the Probate paperwork.

He already told you years ago that he wanted nothing to do with you and although it may be sad for you to hear that all over again, clearly those were his exact wishes, upon which he acted.

I'm not sure what you need to consult a solicitor for ...

elsien

If your father made it clear he didn't want you in his life and spent years demonstrating that, would you want any items of possibly sentimental value anyway? It can't have much meaning for any of you after all this time.

Gers

lincroft1710 wrote: »

There is no legal obligation in England and Wales for non dependant family members to inherit anything from their deceased relative's estate. Your father didn't want to you in his life and therefore it is to be expected his will would reflect this.

Unless your father was in Scotland then this is corrrect. If he was resident in Scotland the situation is different.

It may be that the person who wrote to your sibling is offering a personal item as a rememberance and not part of any will. If you and your sister want such items then it may pay you to be co-operative with her as it appears she's acting out of compassion.

flower11

Thanks. Just didn't want to think that he had been taken advantage of in his last days. Money is irrelevant. It's just finding out the last piece of the puzzle. Maybe someone's conscience was beginning to niggle.

macman

The solicitor is not going to be able to give you any info about the circumstances under which the will was drawn up, due to client confidentiality. So contacting them is futile.

Margot123

Why did you bother your Father when he clearly told you he didn't want anything to do with you anymore?
It must have been so annoying to keep having visits from people he had thought he'd disowned.

"....taken nearly 2 years to contact his family......" - you aren't his family.

-taff

flower11 wrote: »

Maybe someone's conscience was beginning to niggle.

Can't see why. Maybe they thought as you kept in contact you might like something. That's not a conscience niggle, theyhad nothing to feel bad about, unless it was the way your father treated you.

People often take longer than a day to respond to e-mails, so give it a couple of weeks.

There is nothing to investigate, he was of sound mind presumably, so he left his money where he wanted it to go.

RADDERS

Margot123 wrote: »

Why did you bother your Father when he clearly told you he didn't want anything to do with you anymore?
It must have been so annoying to keep having visits from people he had thought he'd disowned.

"....taken nearly 2 years to contact his family......" - you aren't his family.

How cruel, he was still their father !!!!!!