Help with a will and a strange situatio

titanfairfax

Hi all,

Last year my wife's Grandfather passed away in his late 90's. He had remarried approx 10 years earlier (The new wife is of a similar age) and had written a will passing on his estate to his 3 sons (one of which is my wife's father)

We have recently discovered that the 3 sons were to receive the proprty he lived in and all remaining assests split between them on the provision that Grandfather's new wife could remain in the property until she passed. This was always a position the 3 sons had shared and were more than happy to accomodate.

It has come to light that Grandfather had considerable money in a savnigs account which the 3 sons were aware of but not aware of the full balance.

Shortly before his death, Grandfather was moved to a nursing home to look after his needs in the lead up to his death (he was diagnosed with a terminal cancer and passed within weeks of moving to the home) It now transpires that Grandfather's widow moved the majority of the balance (which turned out to be several hundred thousand pounds) from the savings account into their joint bank account via internet banking a couple of days after Grandfather moved into the nursing home and was advised that he did not have long to live. This has apparently meant that this money is not considered part of the will.
The 3 brothers are not well themselves (all being in their 60's) and have had to deal with the death of their father as well as the apparent loss of their inheritance (albeit they will still have the sale of the property)
Is there a legal position to take on this as it feels like deliberate theft to me?

Thanks for any help or advice.

gettingtheresometime

Was the account that originally held the money in the grandfather's sole name or in joint names?

titanfairfax

I believe in was in Grandfather's name.

Margot123

You say "This has apparently meant that this money is not considered part of the will".

Who has advised this is the case?

titanfairfax

That is a good question, I'm not sure if th 3 sons were advised by a solicitor or by someone else. They believe that as the money is in a joint account that it doesn't form part of the inheritance

getmore4less

When you say "several hundred £k" and there is a house(what's that worth?)

there will be 2 things that need looking at carefully.

The will - what assets went into the IPDI trust, just the house or more.
The cash movements and were they legitimate.

following those there will be the inheritable estate, IHT implications if the cash was supposed to stay out of the trust.

nom_de_plume

I believe technically her moving the funds from his account would be considered in breach of most banks T's and C's, it should be by the account holder.

The difficult part may be in proving your wife's grandfather didn't instruct her to do precisely that in anticipation of his passing.

Sea_Shell

I think you'll find that a lot of couples leave the "financials" to one half...with money moving between accounts all the time. Using each others on-line log-ins, rightly or wrongly, with their consent.

Obviously these circumstances differ in that the timing seems, to you, suspect, and it would have a huge difference on any Specific Bequests or Residual Estate if the funds are no longer in his sole name, and fall outside of the Estate.

Most likely, it may be that they decided that the money would be better placed in the Joint Account for her ease of access in paying fees & bills, whilst he was in care...rather than have to rely on PoA's being in place. He probably wanted her to be able to have un-restricted access to the money, as and when required....all perfectly normal.

konark

Without POA she can't touch money held in his sole name unless bank had received specific consent from him. The fact it was done on t'internet would suggest she took his passwords and moved it, but did he tell her to? How can you prove it one way or t'other.

Who is executor of the will? It is up to them to report any improper cash movements

Yorkshireman99

titanfairfax wrote: »

Hi all,

Last year my wife's Grandfather passed away in his late 90's. He had remarried approx 10 years earlier (The new wife is of a similar age) and had written a will passing on his estate to his 3 sons (one of which is my wife's father)

We have recently discovered that the 3 sons were to receive the proprty he lived in and all remaining assests split between them on the provision that Grandfather's new wife could remain in the property until she passed. This was always a position the 3 sons had shared and were more than happy to accomodate.

It has come to light that Grandfather had considerable money in a savnigs account which the 3 sons were aware of but not aware of the full balance.

Shortly before his death, Grandfather was moved to a nursing home to look after his needs in the lead up to his death (he was diagnosed with a terminal cancer and passed within weeks of moving to the home) It now transpires that Grandfather's widow moved the majority of the balance (which turned out to be several hundred thousand pounds) from the savings account into their joint bank account via internet banking a couple of days after Grandfather moved into the nursing home and was advised that he did not have long to live. This has apparently meant that this money is not considered part of the will.
The 3 brothers are not well themselves (all being in their 60's) and have had to deal with the death of their father as well as the apparent loss of their inheritance (albeit they will still have the sale of the property)
Is there a legal position to take on this as it feels like deliberate theft to me?

Thanks for any help or advice.

Whatever happened proving that there was some wrongdoing will be very hard. Best to grit your teeth and forget about it.