Advice MIL died without leaving a will

Spendless

Silvertabby said:

Flugelhorn said:

always really tricky to know what to do with the these things, I might have accepted the invite and backed out nearer the time if things weren't resolved.

Suspect the youngsters have been fed the "Granny wanted everyone to have equal shares of the money but Uncle is refusing to agree" line 

Even trickier if the niece is funding her wedding from 'her share' of granny's money.

The same thought has gone through my head since 2 weddings have been mentioned, is this how they intended funding them? 

paul2louise

Hi sorry not been on the chat as it's been a bit frustrating as solicitor we were using went on maternity leave and left a colleague who did nothing. So OH sacked them and we have just started again with new solicitor. However they seem a lot better and have written to sis and told her she has 7 days to make settlement otherwise we are contesting her  position as executor and will be taking her to court

paul2louise

KITTYKAT8_2 said:

Hi have you any updates to this understand if you cannot give any details.

Sorry I didn't reply just put update on. I don't get notifications of comments on this discussion for some reason..

paul2louise

Had a reply from SIL to solicitor. It took some reading. I have sold nothing on eBay or Facebook and we have no items from the house or bungalow except a mirror and few cleaning items. My OH was given the coins and stamps before MIL downsized and moved to bungalow. We brought nothing back in his car after visits to her house. If she knew all this back then why fuss about it now. There was no food in fridge because she went to stay with SIS over Christmas and took ill while she was there. We have no booze. No presents. The jewellery she has is definitely not Avon. 

I am in receipt of your letter dated 7th September.  Please note that the email address,  has not been used for over 10 years and is unmonitored, this is sent from my correct email address.   

Your demand for £100,000 or £117,737.95 as an interim/full payment is unwarranted and is an attempt by my brother to use your professional services to acquire more of the estate than he is properly due and I politely request that you withdraw your threats.   This figure is also based on an interim statement, which my brother is fully aware of, as there are items missing on both sides of the equation.  It has never been accurate.  

Our father was a hoarder.  He had two collections, stamps and coins.  Having probably found them in the attic my brother states that our mother had said that our father had said that my brother was to be given both collections, so he took them.  I don't believe this as we were always treated equally, nor do I believe that he didn't take anything other than three items from the  house and garage, and the bungalow.  My brother has not been at all honest with you.  Both collections need to be valued for the estate.

It was also my father and I who started the coin collection in the 60s.  There was a children's competition from either the Nationwide or Britannia Building Society to collect a penny from each year on their list.  I did rather well and there were only 4 missing.  I was also lucky enough to find some of the rare ones.  Also when I was about 15 my friend and I spent the Summer holidays seeing what we could find in the attic and painting a mural on one of the walls. For instance there was a heap of 78 records and a radiogram to play them on and a quick search on Ebay of one I remember shows it to be on offer for £269.  The attic was full and had been used as storage for 40 years+.  My brother cleared it all out, took bootfulls to the recycling centre and charity drop off, then my mother said filled his boot with items to take home.  At the time he had a series 6 BMW estate, which I'm sure you are aware has a very large space in the back with the seats down.  This happened on several occasions, as I've said the attic was full. He is not being truthful with you when he says he took nothing.  He actually told me he had taken various items and what he'd taken as at the time I was interested in what he'd found.

My brother and sister-in-law had been through the bungalow and taken everything they wanted before it was finally cleared out.  To admit to only three items is just ridiculous. Most of her furniture, light fittings, curtains and rugs were on loan from me anyway as I'd recently downsized from a seven bedroom house to a four.  Including the mirror they acquired, and I would quite like that back.  Presents I'd bought her over the years were missing.  There wasn't a morsel of food in the fridge, freezer or cupboards, not even a tea bag and her booze cupboard contained a few bottles of very old wine that was the colour of black tea, which went straight down the sink.  Missing were all the liqueurs, spirits and single malts.  The majority of the jewellery was Avon, I can't say whether anything had already been taken as I'm not a jewellery person and didn't tend to notice jewellery my mother had worn.  I will get a valuation of her remaining jewellery if you feel it necessary.

I'm not going to list all the things I remember of value in the house  attic  and in bungalow as I would like my brother to provide a valuation of ALL the items he removed, whether sold or not, as judging by this fantastical account of what he's told you so far he cannot be trusted to come up with an honest list and the only things on his list will be items I remember.   I have been asking him for this for months, and this is the main reason the accounts are not yet finalised.  .

If you are minded to retain my brother as a client, my sister-in-law was quite active in selling stuff on Ebay and probably Facebook now.  I see the only way forward is for you to acquire her accurate selling records over the last 5 years as they will at least show what they have sold from the Estate.

I had offered to add the money I'd received from the sale of the wedgwood to the Estate accounts, but my brother declined and said it wasn't necessary.  I did find this surprising, although it was only about £100, from someone who is renowned for having short arms and deep pockets.   Obviously didn't want me to ask him to reciprocate.

I note that my brother is refusing to pay anything towards the storage costs for items from the Bungalow.  As this includes items originally on loan from my brother and sister-in-law for the bungalow, these items will be donated to charity.

I am quite happy to distribute the estate once it has been finalised and EVERYTHING that has been removed from the properties has been accounted for and valued.

paul2louise

KITTYKAT8_2 said:

Thank you for updating, Sounds like she is attacking back in hope you or your solicitors will back off.

Yes probably but it's all lies and false accusations and wittering about things she think happened years before his mum died. She never mentioned the portions to go to the gran kids. 

Spendless

What's the solicitor said about her allegations? 

paul2louise

Spendless said:

What's the solicitor said about her allegations? 

The solicitor just wanted clarification of the FACTS and none of the fussing. So my OH has just replied with a simple email that any items he does have are both low value and gifted a good while before his mum died. It's just lies and delay tactics and the idea I have been selling her stuff on eBay is a joke. 

tetrarch

I know what I'd do.

Ask your SIL for her financial estimate for ALL the disputed items and just take the "loss" it on the chin. Anything she can remember is fine. I'd investigate with your solicitor as to what kind of sworn statement you could provide to refute the remainder of her allegations. 

Remember that £100,000 at 5% p.a. is £417 per month in lost interest.

Good luck 

Regards

Tet

thegreenone

See if you can find someone to value the stamps and coins.  Unless there is something extremely rare, both will be worth next to nothing. 

My husband has the t'shirt on that one with his late father's "collections".  The toy cars were worth £1200 but everything else was worthless, including the stamps, and it took hours of his time to find out.

Do you have an eBay account?  See if you can print out your transactions to prove you haven't sold anything.

Every little bit to prove her accusations are baseless.

I like @tetrarch 's last paragraph.

paul2louise

My eBay only shows last 2 years. MIL died 3 years ago. She has been sitting on this for all this time. I will pass on comments to my OH @tetrarch @thegreenone.