Do estranged children benefit on intestacy?

desthemoaner

Evening all

My father died late last year. He was divorced from my mother in the 1960s, and he remarried at the end of that decade. My brother and I were estranged from him after the divorce, an estrangement which continued until I began to visit my father occasionally from 2014 onwards. His second wife died a couple of weeks ago, and they are survived by one son from their marriage. 

There's a run-down but potentially valuable property which forms part of the estate, and I'm wondering whether my brother and I would stand to benefit if my father and his second wife died intestate. The information I've read online appears to confirm that in the case of intestacy, when there is no spouse to benefit,  the estate would be divided between surviving children, whether estranged or not. Could someone please confirm whether this is likely to be the case?

If my father and/or his wife left a will its likely that everything will be left to my half-brother, and my brother and I would have to establish grounds to contest. However, we'll cross that bridge if we come to it.

elsien

Estrangement isn’t relevant - it’s all down to the blood relationship. 

Have you checked though if your father did leave a will? I think you’d be struggling to find grounds to contest, if he did, with no financial dependency. 

Shelldean

Your father died first, so everything would pass to her under the rules of interstate. Unless it was over a certain amount. Then the remainder over that amount is shared half to her and half to ALL his children.

So if the house is run down as you say, probably not worth a lot. So it all went to his wife who succeeded him.

When she died all her estate goes to her s on. Her bloodline.

I don't see how you have a claim to your father's estate unless it was worth a lot of money, then you may OR if he wrote a will and left you something.

Secret2ndAccount

If this is in England or Wales, and your father didn't leave a will, then everything passed to his wife when he died.
If his wife did not leave a will, then everything passes to her son (or is shared between all her children if she had others).
Nothing for you unless there was a will.

Marcon

desthemoaner said:

My father died late last year. He was divorced from my mother in the 1960s, and he remarried at the end of that decade. My brother and I were estranged from him after the divorce, an estrangement which continued until I began to visit my father occasionally from 2014 onwards. 

If my father and/or his wife left a will its likely that everything will be left to my half-brother, and my brother and I would have to establish grounds to contest. However, we'll cross that bridge if we come to it.

Hard to see what those grounds could possibly be. You could hardly have had any expectation of an inheritance, and weren't financially dependent on him.

p00hsticks

Secret2ndAccount said:

If this is in England or Wales, and your father didn't leave a will, then everything passed to his wife when he died.

Not necessarily. As Shelldean suggests, it will depend on the value of the estate. 

The spouse inherits the first £270,000 of the estate and all the personal possessions.

Any amount over £270,000 is split in half - half goes to the spouse and the other half is divided among the surviving children.

Keep_pedalling

p00hsticks said:

Secret2ndAccount said:

If this is in England or Wales, and your father didn't leave a will, then everything passed to his wife when he died.

Not necessarily. As Shelldean suggests, it will depend on the value of the estate. 

The spouse inherits the first £270,000 of the estate and all the personal possessions.

Any amount over £270,000 is split in half - half goes to the spouse and the other half is divided among the surviving children.

It also depends on how the house is owned. If joint tenants then the survivor owns the whole house automatically so the children would only get a share if the other assets exceeded £270k.

MEM62

desthemoaner said:

If my father and/or his wife left a will its likely that everything will be left to my half-brother, and my brother and I would have to establish grounds to contest. However, we'll cross that bridge if we come to it.

Unless you are financially dependent on him, which you clearly are not, you will have no grounds to contest.  He has a right to gift his estate as he sees fit.  You are not entitled just because you are his son.  If there is a will and you are not in it there won't be any bridges for you to cross.  

desthemoaner

Many thanks for the replies, they make the situation pretty clear. 

I suppose we could appeal to our half-brother for a share of the estate. He seems a decent chap, so a positive response isn't beyond the bounds of possibility.

getmore4less

you start with your fathers estate and follow the trail.

Who administered your fathers estate?
Was a grant obtained(probate)?
where did his assets go?  (is that where they should have gone)

Then you can look at the wife's estate 

desthemoaner

getmore4less said:

you start with your fathers estate and follow the trail.

Who administered your fathers estate?
Was a grant obtained(probate)?
where did his assets go?  (is that where they should have gone)

Then you can look at the wife's estate 

Thank you. TBH, since I first posted the OP I've grown used to the idea that we won't get anything, and that pursuing a claim is likely to be a waste of time. Better to establish good relations with my half brother, who is likely to be the sole beneficiary, and ask him if he's willing to throw a few quid in our direction. He seems like a decent chap, and there are no axes to grind between us ( though money can of course create such frictions where previously there were none).