What am I entitled to? 11 May 2021 at 3:25PM in Marriage, relationships & families 7 replies 1K views

stressedguy123

Hi, 
My Dad recently passed away unexpectedly recently, which has been a massive shock to us all. He didn't leave a will however i am sure his company had life assurance and other things. Me and my stepmum are being civil with each other however we have not got on the best of terms over the years however despite this i was still very close to my dad. What would i be entitled to if there is no will?  Unfortunately i do not trust her with the finances and sentimental things in sharing them equally with myself (or giving me what im entitled to) and she has other children as well which I'm worried all his savings etc will go to them. I just would like to know what my rights would be / what i could do etc?
Thanks

(Yes they are married!)

comeandgo

Which country did he die in?

stressedguy123

He passed away in England

AskAsk

from the link below, it doesn't seem you will be entitled to anything as he did not leave a will!  unless he named you as beneficiary to his pension life insurance, that won't go to you either.

his wife will inherit everything i think and the article states that you would only inherit if the estate is over a certain amount.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/death-and-wills/who-can-inherit-if-there-is-no-will-the-rules-of-intestacy/

74jax

Unfortunately if your dad died intestate unless his estate is over a certain amount it would all go to his wife.   
Do you know for certain he didn't have a Will? 
Any insurances at his work would be paid out to whoever he requested them to be. 
His wife is now free to distribute to her children on her death too. 
Double check there is no Will and he didn't leave you anything. 

Sandtree

74jax said:
Any insurances at his work would be paid out to whoever he requested them to be. 

Many death in service benefits are up to the pension fund trustees to decide who to pay out to, obviously using the nomination form as a strong guidance.

A former boss had split with his wife and divorced her, had custody of his teenage kids and had been living with his girlfriend for several years. He died unexpectedly whilst out jogging and it came to light he had never changed his declaration from his ex-wife. There was a lot of discussion and a few statements taken from people and finally the trustees awarded the money to his girlfriend against his wishes form but inline with what they believe he'd have intended.

stressedguy123

Thank you, if he has put me on his life assurance, then would this money go into a pension fund or would it go straight to myself? 

AskAsk

stressedguy123 said:

Thank you, if he has put me on his life assurance, then would this money go into a pension fund or would it go straight to myself? 

if he has put you as a nominee on his life assurance with the pension scheme then they will be in touch with you as benificiary and pay you the money.  the pension element will be payable to his wife as that can not be nominated and will only go to the married spouse or dependents.