Scottish/English law on winding up estate .

alfmurph

My stepson , his father and fathers brother all have one third claim as beneficial's of my stepson's grandmothers estate .
About six weeks after her death the father died as well  .
Lawyer winding up the estate in scotland has told my stepson his third is in hand but if he wants to try and get his fathers one third he should engage an english lawyer as he lived in england .
Grand mothers Estate is only worth around £60k in total and we have heard there is a second estranged wife somewhere and debts .
Is it even worth my stepson's bother .
Nobody seems to know details of this second wife and she probably does not even know he has died .

RAS

Your step-son doesn't need a lawyer in England.

He'd be wise to start by talking to person who registered the death as they may have knowledge or paperwork. 

1. That may indicate whether the estate is likely to have debts exceeding £20K, in which case walk away.
2. It may indicate whether the second marriage ended in divorce? Otherwise she's the inheritor not your step-son.

If he decides to pursue further:

Do you have any sort of timeline which indicates where the father lived in the years after the marriage to your wife ended? 

If you've got any sort of clue as to which countries he lived in, it might be worth checking the national registers of marriages.

Ancestry has the records up to 2007. The indexes can be accessed for free in many public libraries but don't pay the extra fees charged by Ancestry for certificates use www.gro.gov.uk.

Or try www.scotlandspeople for Scottish records. Again the indexes are free but certificates cost £1.50.

Obviously a lot easier with McNeilage than Smith or Jones. 

Keep_pedalling

Who is administering your step son’s father’s estate. The share inherited by his father is now part of his estate which will be administered under English law, but unless things are really complicated ihe should not need a solicitor to huddle it.

Choirgrl

Is it known if your stepson’s father left a Will?

If he did, then what happens to his share of his mother’s (your stepson’s grandmother’s) Estate will de determined by the Will. I’d he didn’t, then it will be dealt with under the rules of intestacy that apply to England and Wales. As RAS says, under those rules, then if the estranged wife was still married to him, she will be the beneficiary of anything remaining once the debts are paid off (assuming that will be under £270k). 

The Scottish solicitor’s comment on getting a lawyer in England could be in relation to if your step son wanted to make a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Families and Dependants) Act so he got the third share rather than it going to the estranged wife. Whether that is worth it will be dependent on your step son’s circumstances as well as the level of debts - from what you say, it sounds like there may not be much worth claiming.

Final thought, the Scottish lawyer will presumably need to work out who will be administering the father’s estate, so that he knows who he should release that third to.

TBagpuss

Yes - as above, your stepson's father died *after* his mother did, so his share of her estate will now be part of her estate. The Scottish lawyers will have to pass it to his executors or administrators, and they will have to distribute it in accoradance with his will, if he had one, or under the intestacy rules, if not.

If he died intestate then his wife is likely to inherit eveything (She would be entitled to the first £270,000 plus 50% of anything over that, your stepson would get the other 50% (shared with any other childnre his father had) 
If he left a will then his whole estate will have to be distributed in accordance with that - the share of his mum's estate isn't separate or treated any differently. 
IS dad's estate liklely to be worth more than £270,000 or is there any indication that he left a will?