Wrong name on Will

tick1986

My nan recently passed away and my granddad shortly before that.


My granddad left all his money to my mum knowing my nan was not good with money. My mum opened a joint account with my nan, left the money in that so she could keep an eye on what my nan was doing.


Following the death of my nan, who believed she had a will, we have run into some problems. My nan had divorced my granddad, married someone else, divorced them and in time remarried my granddad. The will we can find states the 'interlude' husband surname ie the will states Edna Smith not Edna Green (Green being the surname when she died).


We do have a marriage certificate but I have been told that it doesn't matter.


My mum was1 of 3 siblings who have both passed away a couple of decades ago and my mum was the sole carer for her parents.


My mums brother had a child shortly before he passed away who, we are being told, stands to inherit half the estate. This being a person my nan hadn't seen in about 20 years and who didn't turn up for the funeral.


Can this be right? Surely with the marriage certificate it shows who she was?


Any help greatly appreciated.

Linton

If the will states nan as having the intermediate husbands surname doesnt that imply that the will was written before her final marriage? Her subsequently getting married would have invalidated the will. If there is no valid will the rules of intestacy apply. If nan had no surviving spouse the money is shared equally amongst her children. If a child had died their share is divided amongst their children etc etc.

camlo

Hopefully if the money was in a joint account it will automatically become your Mum’s and not fall into the estate. Not helpful for other assets (eg house).

Mojisola

tick1986 wrote: »

My granddad left all his money to my mum knowing my nan was not good with money.

My mum opened a joint account with my nan, left the money in that so she could keep an eye on what my nan was doing.

My mums brother had a child shortly before he passed away who, we are being told, stands to inherit half the estate.

As your grandad left his money to your mother, is there much of an estate to share?

Whatever money is in the joint account now belongs solely to your mother.

Margot123

Providing there is a paper trail (which there is certain to be in these circumstances), and you can produce it, then there should be no issue at all.

However, you really must take proper legal advice and not rely on amateur's comments on here.

Tom99

The will sounds like it has been revoked by the subsequent marriage but what did it say?

Slinky

What is the date on the will, and when did she get married for the last time?

TBagpuss

HAving a different name wouldn't be a problem, you'd just have to show that it was the same person, but if the will was made before she remarried then the will would have been revoked by her marriage,(unless it explicitly said it was made in contemplation of her marriage), so if it was made before she remarried then is is no longer valid.

The joint account would go automatically to your mum, any other assets would go equally between all of her children, and for any child who died before her, their share would go the *their* children.

So if she ha 2 children, your mum and your uncle, and your uncle is already dead, then yes, your mum and her nephew would each be entitled to half the estate. If your other uncle had any children, then your mum will get 1/3, nephew 1/3 and the other uncle's children 1/3.

Nicki

Margot123 wrote: »

Providing there is a paper trail (which there is certain to be in these circumstances), and you can produce it, then there should be no issue at all.

However, you really must take proper legal advice and not rely on amateur's comments on here.

Good idea not to rely on amateur's comments on here, as contrary to what Margot has advised you, there will be a significant issue if the reason the name is incorrect is because she remarried after it was made. Marriage always revokes a will unless it is expressly made in contemplation of a forthcoming marriage, so the will you have found is likely to be null and void.

GaleSF63

Nicki wrote: »

Marriage always revokes a will

Not if you are in Scotland...

.