Will / Probate - Suspicious illegal Activity

DunfyDave

My estranged father passed away on the 1st August 2021. The family were notified by a friend (on Facebook) whom lived nearby and that she & her son were the "sole beneficiaries" to his will. She informed the family that she had sold his car, emptied his bank account and had his rented flat professionally cleaned/cleared - All within 30 days.

She gave no forwarding address other than C/O a nearby local pub (not her address) - Claiming that all mail should be posted there and she will collect it in due course. This raised alarm bells with me and a short search online gave her true address 1 mile from the pub.

A quick search revealed that the will has not been registered/lodged with the Probate office.

I wrote her a her a gentle, sensitive letter introducing myself and kindly requesting assurances that my fathers last wishes were ultimately fulfilled as he would have wanted them. I posted two copies to both her home address and to the pub. I also emailed the same letter to her on Facebook. 

Result at this early stage = She has "Blocked" me on Facebook and has not responded to any of my communications.

I understand that I have no automatic right to view the will of my late father if I am not included within it, but I do suspect Suspicious Activity here and would like to ensure that no laws were broken as a result.

Can anyone advise how best to go about handling this?

Thank you.

 

RAS

In the absence of property, unless a very large amount of money is involved, probate would not be required. Some banks will release £25K in sight of the death certificate and a signed disclaimer.

I think premium bonds are the only financial organisation that has a low limit.

Keep_pedalling

Sounds like he did not have a lot, and a bank will pay out quite significant sums to an executor without the need for probate. In the case of someone who is not a close relative, They would only release those funds after seeing the will and proof that person presenting it is the named executor. 

My advise is to forget it and move on.

Marcon

DunfyDave said:

My estranged father passed away on the 1st August 2021. The family were notified by a friend (on Facebook) whom lived nearby and that she & her son were the "sole beneficiaries" to his will. She informed the family that she had sold his car, emptied his bank account and had his rented flat professionally cleaned/cleared - All within 30 days.

She gave no forwarding address other than C/O a nearby local pub (not her address) - Claiming that all mail should be posted there and she will collect it in due course. This raised alarm bells with me and a short search online gave her true address 1 mile from the pub.

A quick search revealed that the will has not been registered/lodged with the Probate office.

I wrote her a her a gentle, sensitive letter introducing myself and kindly requesting assurances that my fathers last wishes were ultimately fulfilled as he would have wanted them. I posted two copies to both her home address and to the pub. I also emailed the same letter to her on Facebook. 

Result at this early stage = She has "Blocked" me on Facebook and has not responded to any of my communications.

I understand that I have no automatic right to view the will of my late father if I am not included within it, but I do suspect Suspicious Activity here and would like to ensure that no laws were broken as a result.

Can anyone advise how best to go about handling this?

Thank you.

 

Given what she has voluntarily told you about the fact he has died/what she has done isn't indicative of anything 'suspicious' - quite the reverse, in fact. 

The only people entitled to view a will before probate has been granted are the executors. If probate is never granted, simply being a beneficiary doesn't give the beneficiary any right to see it.

If you and your father were estranged, there's no saying what comments he has made about you over the years, hard as that may be to hear. That could be why she has blocked you - and if you sent letters to 3 different places, it would be no real surprise if she felt she'd done the right thing by telling you, and your response has (reasonably or otherwise) left her feeling hounded. Who knows what her relationship was with your father?

If you're really bothered about 'laws being broken', you could always get a solicitor to send her a polite letter and see what response that gets. It may well get nothing.

DunfyDave

Hmmm some pretty valid points being submitted.

Thank you.

Murdina

I can understand that you feel very raw about the disposal of your father's assets, even though you were estranged. However, it seems likely she has done nothing wrong. Barclays paid out my father's account balances immediately on presentation of a copy of the will, the death certificate, a signed indemnity form and ID for all the executors. The tenancy would probably stipulate that they had 30 days to clear it if they did not want to pay another month's rent - this is again quite normal. If there are no other assets then, even though there may have been a will, she would have no need to apply for probate. If you think there would have been assets for which she would need probate or perhaps to feel you had tried all avenues, you could wait a few months & check with HMCTS to see if a will have been proved & get a copy or do what they call a standing search with the probate registry for a small fee. https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate All the best.

Lara94

If you have concerns about the validity of his Will in particular, it would be best to contact a solicitor for legal advice. You can contest the validity of the Will on certain legal grounds, although taking action cost be costly and does not guarantee success. So it would probably not be worth the stress and expense. However, speaking to a solicitor can put your mind at rest so that you can move on without lingering concerns that you should have done something. 

Ganga

Can a copy of the will not be purchased from GOV.UK ? wills and probate.

GrumpyDil

Ganga said:

Can a copy of the will not be purchased from GOV.UK ? wills and probate.

Only if probate was applied for. 

As others have said small estates can often be administered without obtaining probate.

BooJewels

And to add to that @GrumpyDil - the OP already said that they'd checked and secondly, there hasn't been sufficient time for it to be granted and published, even if it were required, since the father only died last month.  As the deceased lived in a rented flat, they certainly wouldn't need it to sell a property.  If the lady in question has already 'emptied bank accounts', then doesn't sound like it was needed there either.