Beneficiary died, who inherits?

Nyankochan_2

Hi all, I wondered if someone could advise me on this. My dad was diagnosed with teminal cancer ten years ago, prompting him and my mum to finally make a will. They agreed 1/3 of their assests would go to my half-brother from mum's first marriage, and the other 2/3 to me, after they were both gone. My dad died shortly afterwards. Sadly my half-brother also passed away suddenly three years ago, leaving no will. He has two adult daughters from his first marriage, and was married to his third wife (and living in Europe) at the time of his death. I've recently discovered mum hasn't amended the will. Am I right in thinking if she were to die suddenly, my brother's wife would inherit his 1/3? She's estranged from our family now, so it's possible she may have remarried, I don't know. Does that matter, or is the important thing that they were married at the time of his death? Does the fact that she's not a UK citizen have any impact? Or am I completeley wrong, and his daughters would inherit? Thanks in advance!

[Deleted User]

It would go to his daughters, as I understand it. If he had no children, it would go back into the estate and distributed to the remaining beneficiaries as appropriate.

https://www.the-inheritance-experts.co.uk/what-happens-if-a-beneficiary-dies-first/

RAS

It may well depend on the rules in the country where he died, not those in the UK, and those vary depending in which country you live. To be on the safe side, mum needs to talk to a solicitor.

Mojisola

RAS said:

It may well depend on the rules in the country where he died, not those in the UK, and those vary depending in which country you live.

Presuming that Mum inherited everything from Dad so it's Mum's will that's relevant - the half-brother is a son of the testator so his share would be divided between his offspring, as zx81 says.

p00hsticks

Mojisola said:

RAS said:

It may well depend on the rules in the country where he died, not those in the UK, and those vary depending in which country you live.

Presuming that Mum inherited everything from Dad so it's Mum's will that's relevant - the half-brother is a son of the testator so his share would be divided between his offspring, as zx81 says.

I'm not sure that that is necessarily true - surely it depends on the exact wording of the will ?

In my experience some will just say something along the lines of  'I leave my estate to be divided between whoever of X,Y, and Z survives me' whilst others will include something like 'I leave my estate to X, Y and Z or their decendants if they predecease me'.

In the first case, if Y dies before the person whose will it is, then the bequest to Y fails and the estate is divided just between X and Z. In the second case, then the estate is still divided into thirds, with any decendants of Y receiving whaat woudl have been their share.

Keep_pedalling

I would advise your mother to look at reviewing her will with a solicitor and make a new one if necessary.

Mojisola

p00hsticks said:

I'm not sure that that is necessarily true - surely it depends on the exact wording of the will ?

In my experience some will just say something along the lines of  'I leave my estate to be divided between whoever of X,Y, and Z survives me' whilst others will include something like 'I leave my estate to X, Y and Z or their decendants if they predecease me'.

It always depends on the exact wording in the will - but, unless there is a clause preventing an inheritance going down the blood line, that's the norm.

Nyankochan_2

Thanks for the replies so far, this is very informative. FYI he died in Belgium, and as far as I can see the rules of inheritance there go children and grandchildren as equal first inheritors. His daughters have seven kids between them, so that's actually quite a big subdivision. However I don't think he actually had Belgian citizenship, so it may not apply?

https://www.angloinfo.com/how-to/belgium/money/pensions-wills/inheritance-law

I think the take-home message here is, the people who say mum needs to get a new will or change the existing one ASAP are right!

p00hsticks

Nyankochan_2 said:

Thanks for the replies so far, this is very informative. FYI he died in Belgium, and as far as I can see the rules of inheritance there go children and grandchildren as equal first inheritors. His daughters have seven kids between them, so that's actually quite a big subdivision. However I don't think he actually had Belgian citizenship, so it may not apply?

https://www.angloinfo.com/how-to/belgium/money/pensions-wills/inheritance-law

I think the take-home message here is, the people who say mum needs to get a new will or change the existing one ASAP are right!

I don't think where he died / was resident is relevant.

It's where your mother is resident (and will be when she dies) and what the exact wording of her will says that will determine how her estate is distributed.

Nyankochan_2

p00hsticks said:

Nyankochan_2 said:

Thanks for the replies so far, this is very informative. FYI he died in Belgium, and as far as I can see the rules of inheritance there go children and grandchildren as equal first inheritors. His daughters have seven kids between them, so that's actually quite a big subdivision. However I don't think he actually had Belgian citizenship, so it may not apply?

https://www.angloinfo.com/how-to/belgium/money/pensions-wills/inheritance-law

I think the take-home message here is, the people who say mum needs to get a new will or change the existing one ASAP are right!

I don't think where he died / was resident is relevant.

It's where your mother is resident (and will be when she dies) and what the exact wording of her will says that will determine how her estate is distributed.

My reading of the website I linked to is that Belgian inheritance law applies to people who are resident there, so if mum dies without changing the will, my brother's share then becomes part of his estate, and his estate is then subject to Belgian law. Happy to be corrected if I'm misinterpreting though.

Mojisola

Nyankochan_2 said:

My reading of the website I linked to is that Belgian inheritance law applies to people who are resident there, so if mum dies without changing the will, my brother's share then becomes part of his estate, and his estate is then subject to Belgian law. Happy to be corrected if I'm misinterpreting though.

As your half-brother has died, he is not resident in Belgium and he will not inherit anything from your mother.

The share of her estate that would have gone to him should be distributed according to the details in the will and English law.