URGENT ADVICE NEEDED - WILL BENEFICIARIES QUERY

xylophone

Your mum is receiving end of life care - so she's still alive? 

Surely it is the great aunt who is receiving end of life care in a nursing home? She cannot  make a new will because she is not lucid  and cannot be visited because of current restrictions.

Stanleyvanley

The lady receiving end of life care is my great aunt. My mum is deceased and is niece 3. She was the named executor together with my grandfather who is also deceased. The step father from hell is the only living named executor (there were 3 executors originally). Its very complicated to me. 

theoretica

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! 

As you were left a proportion of the estate, not a fixed amount, you are all the residual beneficiaries.

As I see it:

Quarter to 1 has failed

Quarter to 2 - failed

Quarter to 3 goes to 6

Quarter to 4

Two quarters clearly doesn't make a whole, but the spirit of 4 and 6 get equal shares would give you half each. 

Stanleyvanley

Thank you theoretica - I just hope then that he does the decent thing at lets me sort her personal belongings (many of which have been in the family for generations) and the funeral.

Malthusian

Your stepfather has no way of stopping you booking a church and sending out invitations. And nobody owns a dead body.

You say your stepfather has threatened to attempt to steal your share of the estate, so you may want to take legal advice and get a solicitor to send him a strongly worded letter to remind him of his legal obligations.

Mojisola

Stanleyvanley said:

The lady receiving end of life care is my great aunt.

Who will inform the RO of the death?  The funeral director will certainly accept instructions from the person named as the informant on the death certificate.

Stanleyvanley

I have lost my faith in humanity, I really have. My estranged step father inherited everything my mother worked for and I have no idea to this day what he did with her personal possessions and my family heirlooms (I'm not talking anything worth any financial value here - just stuff like hand knitted blankets etc that my great great grandmas had made, sewing kits from 3 generations ago etc.). I did the decent thing and informed what little family I have that my great aunt was now in a home receiving end of life care. The response I have received appalls me. My mum's cousin thinking she is the soul beneficiary as she is a 'Niece' and I am only a 'Great Niece' and she is 'closest by blood' (yet they have had no contact for 50 years!). No mention in said texts of how my great aunt or what care she is receiving. She is still ALIVE and they are crawling out of the woodwork circling like vultures! Its awful. If I asked any of them what her favourite place or food or flower was, they wouldn't be able to answer as non of them have been anywhere near in 50 years. So, not only have I got the saga of the estranged step father but also the vultures. If I had one piece of advice for anyone it would be to give Lasting Power of Attorney to the person you trust most in your life while you can. I have been told by a solicitor that if I arrange the funeral and instruct a Funeral Director then I am liable for the costs. I would rather do that and go to my grave knowing I did my best and pay for it rather than be a vulture.Rant over! Look after those close to you and that care for you an love you and protect them while you can. You never know what's round the corner.

xylophone

With regard to the funeral, as your stepfather is the executor of the will, he must be advised when the time comes of the death of the testator.
The first call on her estate is payment for the funeral - this can be authorised by your aunt's bank before probate is granted.
As you mention a solicitor, I assume that you have obtained his opinion on the terms of your great aunt's will - he is in the best position to advise you as to how to proceed.

Voyager2002

Stanleyvanley said:

I have lost my faith in humanity, I really have. ...

All very sad. Inheritance and house-buying bring out the very worst in people. Victorian novels are full of this kind of behaviour, although I have seen many examples of people behaving decently (or better) in these situations.