Lack of will

DanJ90

Hi all,
I am looking for some advice/opinions on a potential situation that may arise within the near future.
My father (late 60's) has a few medical issues that he believes will mean that his time with us will unfortunately be cut shorter than I would like. Upon discussing this with him, he mentioned that he currently does not have a will that contain his wishes for when he passes away.
He does not have a spouse/civil partnership and lives on his own.

This is where my question arises. He has another son, who has not been in contact with him for over 30 years due to family feuds prior to my birth. I have never met him (I do not even know his name) and have no means of contacting him or know where he lives.
Now looking at the rules around this, it says that all inheritance will be passed to his children providing there isn't a surviving partner. 
Without a will, is there any other way of preventing his other child from having a claim on any inheritance should they somehow find out this has happened? Would a solicitor/lawyer attempt to find this other child by default? 
Is there anything that I can do (outside of a will) that I can do to mitigate this?

I have raised the question with my father again about getting a will sorted, but he basically brushes it off and says that everything will be left to me by default.. Which from what I can tell, will not happen immediately without a will. I do not want to keep pressing my father around getting a will as I don't want him to think that is all I care about.

I hope the post does not come across as me looking to make a quick buck so to speak - If he wanted to leave his inheritance to someone else, I would not have a problem with this at all - It would anger me however knowing that someone who has not been in his life for over three decades and caused him pain can simply come in and claim 1/2 of all inheritance despite being absent for most of his life.

 The total inheritance would be less than £250,000.
Any advice would be appreciated.
TIA.

Keep_pedalling

You just have to hammer it home to him that he is being both very foolish and irresponsible in not making a will. You have to convince him that should he die intestate, you will be left trying to track down your sibling then hand over half of his estate to him.

Brynsam

Keep_pedalling said:

You just have to hammer it home to him that he is being both very foolish and irresponsible in not making a will. You have to convince him that should he die intestate, you will be left trying to track down your sibling then hand over half of his estate to him.

Crikey. That's an interesting approach where someone believes he has serious life-shortening medical issues and, from the sound of it, a tendency to dig in his heels. 

OP, there is no way to prevent his other son from inheriting his 'share' if your dad dies intestate. Why not load up the following link https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will and get your father to work through it, which should be as effective as any other way to help the penny drop? You can only stress to him what you have so eloquently said in your post above.

SevenOfNine

He's leaving you a nightmare 'legacy'. Unfortunately, people can be extremely stubborn, & weirdly he might feel getting a will done might hasten his departure given that he has health issues. 

Have you made it clear this isn't about YOU wanting to secure a/your inheritance.  Offer to arrange & pay for it maybe.  Would he like it to be you who sorts out his affairs & makes all the necessary arrangements, because a will would make that clear & simplify things for you.

If he cannot be persuaded then there may be nothing for it but to start asking questions about the son now, whether he likes it or not. Who else apart from him might know more?

Flugelhorn

SevenOfNine said:

He's leaving you a nightmare 'legacy'. Unfortunately, people can be extremely stubborn, & weirdly he might feel getting a will done might hasten his departure given that he has health issues. 

Have you made it clear this isn't about YOU wanting to secure a/your inheritance.  Offer to arrange & pay for it maybe.  Would he like it to be you who sorts out his affairs & makes all the necessary arrangements, because a will would make that clear & simplify things for you.

If he cannot be persuaded then there may be nothing for it but to start asking questions about the son now, whether he likes it or not. Who else apart from him might know more?

Agree with this - I suggest you say to him that you have taken advice and it is going to be really, really  hard for your to be able to have anything to do with his estate without him defining what his wishes are - in particular that unless he does, ALL CHILDREN WILL BE TREATED EQUALLY. 
Just a thought -is it possible that the child has died / been adopted and in that way your father is correct?

DanJ90

Hi all,
I really appreciate all of the responses. 
It looks like that I will need to have a sit down with him again and have another conversation, albeit probably an unpleasant one at that.
There is a likelihood that I will be able to find his other son, but from what I have been told he will not be welcomed back to the family (I believe he borrowed thousands from my grandfather many years ago and basically did a runner to another country and has never been in touch since). So realistically, I don't think my father or my grandfather would want him in the picture at all.

Would it seem reasonable to ask for him to sit down in front of my laptop, load up a will writing service and ask him to do one there and then whilst I go for a walk? Offering to pay would be more than worth the weight off my mind so that is a good idea, SevenOfNine.

As I said, its not about the money for me, I don't need it as I have a well paid job myself and my own mortgaged house. I just feel like when the time does eventually arise then it will be stressful as it is without having to go through all of these extra steps to ensure that all everything has been settled accordingly.

Robin9

Yes use your laptop to get a draft together but take that to a solicitor who will advise how to treat the issue of the missing sum.

74jax

How far is he from end of life?  Is is under a hospital specialist or adult social care at this point?  They are very understanding of end of life needs, I would try and enlist their help.  They should, regardless, at least ask is he has a will in place and discuss how he would like to pass..... sorry to be so blunt but I've been through and am currently doing so with my other parent....
You could also request from AgeUK some leaflets to be sent to him, he can get them in the post and open (if able) when he wants.
The thing is, he MAY want the estate to be split.  It clearly doesn't bother him that much that you will be left to sort it out.  In fact you don't even have to sort it out.  Is there a way your dad could gift you some money now?  It will be declared as a gift on death but at least you have it?  If he's likely to need care then don't even consider this (I'm only talking if he has weeks to live).
His doctor is a good call too.  Do you have PoA? The doctor very recently spoke to my mam about how she wanted to pass and if she had any specific wishes not in a will that she would like him to instruct a solicitor to speak to her about.
One thing though, if he does die without sorting it, please don't take all the money and risk brother x coming out of the woodwork in 5 years when you've perhaps bought a house etc.... you can pass over the executor/administration of the estate.

xylophone

The will needs to be signed by the testator in the presence of two witnesses who are not beneficiaries. 
https://www.irwinmitchell.com/personal/wills-trusts-estates/wills/guide/witnessing-a-will#beneficiary

Mojisola

xylophone said:

The will needs to be signed by the testator in the presence of two witnesses who are not beneficiaries. 
https://www.irwinmitchell.com/personal/wills-trusts-estates/wills/guide/witnessing-a-will#beneficiary

Or the spouses/civil partners of beneficiaries.

If spouses/CPs did sign, the will would still be valid but the individual's inheritance would fail.

xylophone

Or the spouses/civil partners of beneficiaries.

Covered in link above.