Do I need a solicitor for intestate case?

Mrstephen

My step mother is acting as the administrator for my late father’s estate. She has notified me and my siblings that we will have to wait until she also passes before we will get anything from my Dad’s estate.

I’m having a hard time trying to estimate the value of his estate.
He has 2 maintenance companies that he would pay up to £60,000 a year in tax.
He had a private pension, state pension and an insurance policy that pays out in case of death. He has 2 villas worth £70,000 each. A classic Mercedes. A private garage in east London which he owns the lease for, with a beat up old jaguar E type v12 that needs a lot! of work and a land rover that is worth £5000 that my step mother wants to scrap but is fine.

Does it sound like this estate is worth more than £250,000 and is my step mother trying to swindle my dads kids out of our legal entitlements. Can she hide what we are legally entitled to?

Do I need a solicitor? I have no money to chase this.

getmore4less

a couple of things you can do.

Check out the companies.
You should be able to find out if they are still running or being closed, if Ltd companies house will have some records.

Land registry for the property ownership.

Cars are fairly easy to value.

pension, and policy are probably outside the estate, try to check who was the beneficiary of the policy.

Get the siblings to help.

Might an approach to help out, especially with the running of the companies if they are profitable, be more successful in getting everyone on side.


Ultimately if you cannot get any cooperation you will need to engage help to go futher.

nom_de_plume

Mrstephen wrote: »

He has 2 maintenance companies that he would pay up to £60,000 a year in tax. .

Some quick metal arithmetic on that tax bill suggests an income of circa £160k pa and probably higher if self employed. If the businesses are still trading actively and profitably and are not dependant upon your father's input, they have a significant potential value which would put the estate well over the £250k threshold.

Yorkshireman99

Mrstephen wrote: »

My step mother is acting as the administrator for my late father’s estate. She has notified me and my siblings that we will have to wait until she also passes before we will get anything from my Dad’s estate.

I’m having a hard time trying to estimate the value of his estate.
He has 2 maintenance companies that he would pay up to £60,000 a year in tax.
He had a private pension, state pension and an insurance policy that pays out in case of death. He has 2 villas worth £70,000 each. A classic Mercedes. A private garage in east London which he owns the lease for, with a beat up old jaguar E type v12 that needs a lot! of work and a land rover that is worth £5000 that my step mother wants to scrap but is fine.

Does it sound like this estate is worth more than £250,000 and is my step mother trying to swindle my dads kids out of our legal entitlements. Can she hide what we are legally entitled to?

Do I need a solicitor? I have no money to chase this.

It sounds as if, at best,she is out of her depth. She is going to have to apply for letters of administration and het all the estate assets valued. Even in poor condition land rovers fetch good money. Likewise the E type is likely to be worth £30K minimum. The rules on who inherits what under intestacy and she will be in serious trouble if she does not follow them. I suspect she will need considerable professional help.

Keep_pedalling

nom_de_plume wrote: »

Some quick metal arithmetic on that tax bill suggests an income of circa £160k pa and probably higher if self employed. If the businesses are still trading actively and profitably and are not dependant upon your father's input, they have a significant potential value which would put the estate well over the £250k threshold.

If they are limited companies paying £60k in corporation tax then we are talking £300k profit pa, so we could be talking about an estate worth millions here. How someone can be that successful yet fail to make a will is beyond me.

Flugelhorn

Is she definitely applying for LOA rather than probate (I am sure you are right - I was just pondering) .. Just what she has sounds little bit like there is a will that is leaving her the estate and then some indication of money coming to you later.
As it stands if he was intestate she gets any joint property + 250K and has no obligation to pass any of it on to you after her death

getmore4less

Are you sure this was intestate?

Administrator is the generic term for anyone dealing with an estate including executors.

Keep_pedalling

Flugelhorn wrote: »

I she definitely applying for LOA rather than probate (I am sure you are right - I was just pondering) .. Just what she has sounds little bit like there is a will that is leaving her the estate and then some indication of money coming to you later.
As it stands if he was intestate she gets any joint property + 250K and has no obligation to pass any of it on to you after her death

+50% of the remainder, and any IHT due will come from the childrens share.

Flugelhorn

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

+50% of the remainder, and any IHT due will come from the childrens share.

Good point. this is complicated and suspect StepMother is not aware of how complex.

Keep_pedalling

Flugelhorn wrote: »

Good point. this is complicated and suspect StepMother is not aware of how complex.

I think the way forward is to suggest that she needs to take professional advice. The 2 buisnesses alone make this task beyond most peoples capabilities.

Silvertabby

My condolences.

I would be very surprised if a man with this level of business interests - especially one with a complex family situation (re-marriage) didn't make a will.