Inheritance theft

ggtazzy

There has been no falling out before her father died in fact she loved her siblings to bits before all this and no my partner is no better off than her siblings this is just pure greed.

The_Fat_Controller

What a mess !

However, if the only sum of money that really "exists" is the £15,000 in the joint account with the granddaughter then proving any fraud or theft is going to be very difficult as all the other evidence (cash) is likely to remain in that medium and not have been banked by the alleged thieving siblings.

I have no idea how a joint account would be treated after one party dies in the absence of a will.

You have to be careful in implicating the granddaughter as if she gave you the cheque she may have acted inappropriately.

What you do need to do, as advised above, is check who wound up the estate and what was actually paid to whom.

ggtazzy

Funeral directors will not share the information data protection.macman There was also £4,000 cash in a small tin in the house which has been acknowledged and two mobility scooters sold for £1000 without taking into consideration other property from the home which has been taken or sold also £15,000 pound in a bank account it was over £20,000

ggtazzy

I think intestacy should be applied for and everything needs to come out and if DWP want to recover it so be it that is the right thing anyway.

Mrs_Z

The_Fat_Controller said:

I have no idea how a joint account would be treated after one party dies in the absence of a will.

From what I understand, a joint account would not be counted as part of an estate as it automatically goes/stays with the the other joint account owner if you die, ie: when death of a joint account holder occurs, the funds in the joint account will usually automatically pass to the surviving account holder by what is known as ‘survivorship’. This means that NONE of the money in the joint account will pass to the deceased account holder’s estate.

How did the siblings even gain access to this account?  Was the bank notified of the death of the account holder?

Sea_Shell

ggtazzy said:

I think intestacy should be applied for and everything needs to come out and if DWP want to recover it so be it that is the right thing anyway.

What do you mean by apply for intestacy?

AIUI, if probate isn't required then I don't think "letters of authority" are required to be applied for.

If your partner wants to report her father to the DWP, posthumously, then that's a separate matter, not to be done lightly.

elsien

If it was a rented property then whoever is administering the estate probably had a very limited amount of time to clear the belongings out without having to pay further rent. That may explain the haste with which some things have been sold, although obviously there is still the proceeds of the sale to take into account. 

sheramber

The money in the joint account is not part of the estate.

With a joint  account it belongs to the other joint holder- the grand daughter- so do not count that as the father's money.

The grand daughter can do what she wants the money- keep it or share it out , or give some to one person only. It is her money.

The amount of cash in the house must be an estimate, unless somebody counted it on the day the father died. it may be less than £15k or it may be more than £15k. All you know is that there was cash in a box.

How can you prove there was £15000?


So the siblings have said there was £4000 plus £1000 - £5000. 

But the funeral had to be paid for. 

Your partner got £2000.


If you want to pursue the funeral cost, you know what the funeral consisted of. Make  a list and contact the  undertaker and ask for an estimate of the cost of such a funeral.

But where will it get you? You will need to take legal advice to pursue any inheritance.

ggtazzy

I guess no authority is needed because if the joint account which I understand is not part of the estate and now understand it would never be considered part of the estate which people who have have commented about that doesn't leave much of the estate to sort out. So then it really just becomes about a large amount of cash which my partner says last time her father spoke about and had the tin out 2 years ago had over £80,000 in it and you have to understand her father lived a very frugal life and had to keep withdrawing money out of his account to keep it under £16,000 which also kept adding to the big tin of money so when he died he definitely had more than £80,000 in it but as people say that is not provable. Also as people have pointed out this is money he was not supposed to have so this is not about recovering inheritance anymore is it really because that is not achievable and not morally correct. I suppose this is about does my partner cause her siblings problems by reporting it to the DWP that's a decision only she can make.

ggtazzy

Where there is a joint account in name but not in purpose, where only one person is contributing funds into the account, depending on the individual circumstance, it would (if challenged) most likely be considered that the assets within the account are the sole assets of the sole contributor. For example, a joint account between a person and their LPA. It is quite common for a joint account to be used in order for the LPA to more conveniently assist the account holder with their finances. However, the LPA is not actually contributing funds into the account themselves therefore this money should be considered as part of the deceased’s estate.   

Joint accounts can be considered part of the estate in certain circumstances but the latest supreme court ruling (sorry privy council) is that because of the banks wording in the joint account application which specifies that the money will pass to the surviving account holder and the deceased person must have realised this when they signed the application it does not form part of the estate .