Inheritance theft

Sea_Shell

Be careful what you wish for!!

Are you (your partner) planning on setting the DWP on her siblings?

Had he been fiddling benefits?

ggtazzy

What my partner is saying she would rather they had it than her siblings because what her siblings have done.

The_Fat_Controller

Cash kept in biscuit tins from an inheritance and a football pools win in order to commit years of benefit fraud.

He wasn't a contributor to anything apart from the fraud.

Now I get it.

thegreenone

Why did the other siblings grab?  Apart from sheer greed, do they see your partner as 'well-off' and not in need or was there a sibling falling out?  Just curious, you don't need to answer if you don't want to.

Letters of Administration: What are they and when do you need them? | Wills Services

Have a read of the above.  Go onto the Probate website and see if LoA have been granted for Dad.  If not, ask siblings why not. Or, your partner's applies if they haven't.  I would have thought the bank would need LoA to release the £15k.  If they released without, ask the Bank for their reasons.  They could be in trouble.

Your partner could start asking lots of awkward questions.  We know a simple cremation doesn't cost £10k but ask them who is named on the Death Certificate, where Dad was cremated and what will happen to his ashes.  Keep prodding. Gently.  Your partner is entitled to know this information.

Have you anything in writing to say that the £2k cheque is it for your partner? If they haven't done that, cash it but keep prodding.  If they did include a letter, that will be it, legally, I believe.  Happy to be corrected.

Sorry, I'm rambling.  Death can bring out such greed in families. I hope your partner gets some answers.

ggtazzy

Fat controller is absolutely right question is how keen would the DWP be to recover their losses?

Sea_Shell

ggtazzy said:

What my partner is saying she would rather they had it than her siblings because what her siblings have done.

By "they", I assume you mean the government?

You do realise you'll probably lose the £2000 then too (if it was pursued)

If that is your plan, don't bank the cheque, so you can wash your hands of any involvement.

Your partner needs to think long and hard about this, before poking the bear.

Even if she lets it go, can she in all honesty morally keep the £2000, knowing what she knows??

kazwookie

Ring up the undertakers and ask how much the funeral servie etc was, ask for copies of the bill.

Ring up his bank and ask for the bereavement team, and explain clearly what has happened and ask who / why they paid the money over to.

ggtazzy

Whatever happens and whatever my partner decides to do she has lost a father a brother and sister which nothing can change now but my partner does not care about the money she is just in disbelief that her siblings have acted this way. The cheque is still sat on our shelf and will remain there till she decides what to do.

macman

OP, what is the estimated value of the estate? You have stated £14k cash, plus goods and chattels, which may not amount to another £1k. 
If the £15k bank money was in a joint account then it passes to the grand-daughter upon his death under the principle of survivorship: it does not form part of the estate and your partner and her siblings have no claim on a share of it whatsoever.
If the estate was maybe £15k gross, then allow maybe £4k for funeral expenses and another £1k for debts and sundries, there could be less than £10k as the residual estate. Split 3 ways, £3.3k each, assuming no other siblings. Deduct the £2k already provided and you are arguing over maybe no more than £1.3k. 
Clearly their actions have been grossly immoral and unlawful, but is this really a battle you want to fight, especially given the fact now revealed that he may have committed benefit fraud for many years by concealing assets? 

elsien

kazwookie said:

Ring up the undertakers and ask how much the funeral servie etc was, ask for copies of the bill.

Ring up his bank and ask for the bereavement team, and explain clearly what has happened and ask who / why they paid the money over to.

As the contract is with the person who signed the contract with the funeral director, I can’t see any obligation on the funeral director to share that information either with the OP or their partner.