URGENT ADVICE NEEDED - WILL BENEFICIARIES QUERY

Stanleyvanley

My great aunt (who I have cared for for the past few years) has the following in her will in terms of how her estate is to be shared (I've removed names and allocated numbers for privacy):

"a) one quarter to my brother no 1

b) one quarter to my brother no 2

c) one quarter to my niece 3

d) one quarter to my great niece 4 provided that if my brother 1 shall predecease me I direct that his share shall be paid to his wife 5 should she be alive at the date of my death and I direct further that if my niece 3 shall predecease me I direct that her share shall be paid to her husband 6 should he be alive at the date of my death.

I am great niece 4. Brother 1 (my grandfather) & brother 2 (my uncle) & niece 3 (my mum) & wife 5 (my grandmother) are all deceased. My estranged step father is husband 6.

How will the estate be divided between myself great niece 4 & my estranged stepfather husband 6. He claims that he is now the sole beneficiary. He has already inherited everything my mum worked for because there was no will and is now set to inherit again from my great aunt who has never even visited and is not related to by blood. I am so frustrated! 

Keep_pedalling

This sounds horribly like a DIY job, does your GA still have mental capacity?

xylophone

As far as I can see, the gifts to  the testator's brothers,  sister-in-law  and niece have failed and so fall into residue - at the most, your stepfather might be entitled to half the estate if he is still living at the date of your great aunt's death?
Who is named as executor of the estate?
If your great aunt is still of sound mind, you might suggest to her that  she considers writing a new will?

Dox

Stanleyvanley said:

My great aunt (who I have cared for for the past few years) has the following in her will in terms of how her estate is to be shared (I've removed names and allocated numbers for privacy):

"a) one quarter to my brother no 1

b) one quarter to my brother no 2

c) one quarter to my niece 3

d) one quarter to my great niece 4 provided that if my brother 1 shall predecease me I direct that his share shall be paid to his wife 5 should she be alive at the date of my death and I direct further that if my niece 3 shall predecease me I direct that her share shall be paid to her husband 6 should he be alive at the date of my death.

I am great niece 4. Brother 1 (my grandfather) & brother 2 (my uncle) & niece 3 (my mum) & wife 5 (my grandmother) are all deceased. My estranged step father is husband 6.

How will the estate be divided between myself great niece 4 & my estranged stepfather husband 6. He claims that he is now the sole beneficiary. He has already inherited everything my mum worked for because there was no will and is now set to inherit again from my great aunt who has never even visited and is not related to by blood. I am so frustrated! 

Is there another clause in the will covering who the residual beneficiaries are?

Stanleyvanley

Sadly, there is no mention of who the residual beneficiaries are. My mum was Executor but there is a clause appointing my step father if she predeceased my great aunt. She is receiving end of life care and is not lucid. I am not allowed to the nursing home to say goodbye due to coronavirus. Will I still be able to arrange the funeral or does this have to be the Executor. He won't care - he'll just want money!

xylophone

As your stepfather is executor of the will, he will need to be advised when your great aunt dies.
Is there a property involved? Are the amounts held in her bank accounts etc high enough for probate to be required?
You will need to discuss the funeral arrangements with him.

You do not mention any prepaid funeral plan so that the first call on her estate will be the cost of her funeral. Presumably your stepfather is aware of this.  It can be paid for from her bank account (s) before probate is granted - the bill will need to be presented to the bank(s).

With regard to the assets in the estate, as far as I can see the failed bequests must fall into residue - it seems to me that at the most your stepfather would be entitled to only half the estate - however, if it proves necessary, you will need to consult a solicitor for an expert opinion.

Did your aunt draft her own will or was a solicitor involved?

Voyager2002

Stanleyvanley said:

Will I still be able to arrange the funeral or does this have to be the Executor. He won't care - he'll just want money!

I suggest that you telephone some funeral directors to obtain quotes and also clarify whether they can accept instructions from you as a beneficiary or only from the executor. It might also be worth contacting the bereavement department of Great-Aunt's bank and asking whether you can present them with the bill for the funeral, or only the executor.

In practice, if you make some funeral plans and present them to the uncaring executor it is probable that he will be pleased at not having to worry about it (other than seeking to cut costs) rather than making a whole new set of plans.

Robin9

At this time of COVID-19  you will find many restrictions on funerals  - there are no church services, crems have restrictions on numbers attending often in single figures and some are now not allowing anyone to attend. 
Be guided by the FD. They will accept instructions from anyone - the bill will come to you as the person who places the contract.

If you do arrange for the funeral then be prepared to pick up the full cost as the banks won't talk to you about paying the FD's bill from the deceased bank account.

Stanleyvanley

Many thanks for your responses. I will happily pay for the funeral albeit if only 2 people can attend - it was just that I was worried only he could do it as he is the Executor. He is a man with no moral compass so I wouldn't trust him to deal with it himself.

Dox

Stanleyvanley said:

Sadly, there is no mention of who the residual beneficiaries are. My mum was Executor but there is a clause appointing my step father if she predeceased my great aunt. She is receiving end of life care and is not lucid. I am not allowed to the nursing home to say goodbye due to coronavirus. Will I still be able to arrange the funeral or does this have to be the Executor. He won't care - he'll just want money!

Your mum is receiving end of life care - so she's still alive? You said in a previous post that 'Brother 1 (my grandfather) & brother 2 (my uncle) & niece 3 (my mum) & wife 5 (my grandmother) are all deceased.' 

Voyager2002

Robin9 said:

At this time of COVID-19  you will find many restrictions on funerals  - there are no church services, crems have restrictions on numbers attending often in single figures and some are now not allowing anyone to attend. 
Be guided by the FD. They will accept instructions from anyone - the bill will come to you as the person who places the contract.

There is typically a long waiting list for crematoria: even at normal times a wait of a couple of months is not unusual. So if you start the process of funeral planning now, there is a reasonable chance that the restrictions will have been relaxed by the time it takes place.

And one tip: a crematorium usually allows only a fixed time (30 minutes?) for the ceremony, but when booking you can request more time if you think it likely to be needed and of course are willing to pay extra.