Partner died intestate - family has taken money they’re not entitled to

alexpem

My partner passed away 2 months ago, I’m pregnant with his only child. I have already spoke to two solicitors and know that our unborn child is the rightful person to inherit his entire estate (around £7k was in his bank), problem is that his brother and mhm have already emptied his account and say his mum is having the money.
I’m going into maternity leave soon with a huge drop in pay and can’t really afford a solicitor to fight for this money for our child if I can avoid it.
What can I do? The bank can’t help as they have already released the money and can’t even tell me the exact figure that was in the account.

TBagpuss

Check with a solicitor but I think the bank may have to provide the money to you and then (try to) recover it from the family .
Normally the bank would have required them to sign an indemnity saying they are liable if they were not entitled to the funds.

In the circumstances, I would start with a formal complaint to the bank, that they improperly paid out the funds to people who were not entitled to them

IF that is not effective, the ombudsman may be the next step, but you might also find it worthwhile contacting one of the newspapers which have financial help pages - the Guardian and Telegraph both have them

Does your partner's mother know about the baby?

Robin9

I assume there was no will.

I hope someone will say I am wrong.

I think the Bank was right to release the money to your partners mother who would inherit under intestacy law.

Hard as it may be the unborn child does not inherit.

TBagpuss

The child is entitled - under intestacy, children come before parents in terms of who has the right to inherit.

the fact that the child is born posthumously doesn't change that.

alexpem

Hi, thanks for your reply.
I have been into the bank and spoken to the manager and they believe they haven’t done anything wrong as the mother and brother went in with a death certificate, said they were next of kin and that was it. They wouldn’t give me any more information. I will make a formal complain tomorrow though, maybe they can help from there.

My partners entire family know about the baby, I’m due in 2 months. Everything has turned nasty and they are saying the baby will get nothing.

alexpem

@Robin9 two family law solicitors have confirmed that the baby will inherit before anybody else under intestacy laws as she was conceived before the death.

Socajam

Stop conversing with the family, nothing will come of it. If they had any sense of decency, considering that you are pregnant with your partners child, they would not have done this.
Get yourself a 30 minute interview with a solicitor and then see if he can write a letter to the family.
On a different note, to all unmarried women out there with children or pregnant, get yourself sorted by having an insurance policy on your partner, he does not have to know as you will be the one paying the premium.
That's insurance for you and your child/children.

Robin9

Accepting that does it also apply that the funds must be held in trust until the child is 18 ?

alexpem

@Robin9 I believe that might be the case, yes. I may be able to the money for her partial upbringing, it wouldn’t go far I can’t imagine, and I don’t need it thankfully, but it’s rightfully hers so I would be happy for it to wait until she was 18. I just don’t believe it’s right that his family have it and feel they are entitled to it.

Keep_pedalling

alexpem wrote: »

@Robin9 I believe that might be the case, yes. I may be able to the money for her partial upbringing, it wouldn’t go far I can’t imagine, and I don’t need it thankfully, but it’s rightfully hers so I would be happy for it to wait until she was 18. I just don’t believe it’s right that his family have it and feel they are entitled to it.

The money should be held in trust for her until her 18th birthday. I really find it incredible that someone would act this way almost certainly guaranteeing that they will have zero contact with their granddaughter.

Was your partner a member of a company pension scheme?

alexpem

This only scratches the surface on the reasons they won’t have contact with her.

My partner didn’t have any pension schemes or anything, his entire estate is made up of what was in his bank account, his car (that his brother has scrapped and presumably kept the money) and a few personal belongings.

Thankfully I have the most precious thing, his daughter, that his family won’t ever have, but I can’t help wanting to fight for her rightful inheritance.