Advice MIL died without leaving a will

Spendless

paul2louise said:

thegreenone said:

MiL's bank accounts should have been closed by SiL when she received the Death Certificate.  There's no way those accounts should still be open.  Where she put the money would've been up to her as executor but it should've been kept separate to her own money.

That maybe true but it hasnt happened as far as I know. The money has just sat in the two accounts opened my MIL 

I don't know how SIL would have pulled that one off tbh because when my Nan died earlier this year, (had a Will, Mum sole executor, 3 beneficiaries and estate too small for probate), Mum told them Nan had died,  the bank account was frozen. Mum had to produce a copy of the death certificate (and also the will) and then after a few weeks the bank account was unfrozen but was transferred to another account - Mum then put it in a savings account in her name.

I don't think it would be an option to have just left it there in Nan's name, since she's gone, and in your case the estate went to probate so I would have def thought the bank accounts would have been frozen and  then I'm surprised if they just re-opened them? Someone more knowledgeable than me will be able to explain the exact procedure though. 

RAS

Mum's were frozen when we rang to tell them she died. They did agree to honour the cheque for nursing home fees that had only arrived there the day she died.

badmemory

Spendless said:

I don't know how SIL would have pulled that one off tbh because when my Nan died earlier this year, (had a Will, Mum sole executor, 3 beneficiaries and estate too small for probate), Mum told them Nan had died,  the bank account was frozen. Mum had to produce a copy of the death certificate (and also the will) and then after a few weeks the bank account was unfrozen but was transferred to another account - Mum then put it in a savings account in her name.

I don't think it would be an option to have just left it there in Nan's name, since she's gone, and in your case the estate went to probate so I would have def thought the bank accounts would have been frozen and  then I'm surprised if they just re-opened them? Someone more knowledgeable than me will be able to explain the exact procedure though. 

So glad you said this as I thought the same.  Whilst my mothers money was quite swiftly trasferred to me her accounts were frozen.

sheramber

Have the banks been informed of the death?

paul2louise

Ok so the NatWest account was a new account after the death certificate was issued but that is just sitting there. The same of the house is in this account. There was a post office savings account that my OH gave the details to SIL. No idea what happened to that. 

Spendless

paul2louise said:

Ok so the NatWest account was a new account after the death certificate was issued but that is just sitting there. The same of the house is in this account. There was a post office savings account that my OH gave the details to SIL. No idea what happened to that. 

The new  Natwest acc *might* be an executor account as they're one of the few banks to still do them. Not necessarily so though, cos my Nan banked with them and they didn't tell Mum of this option when they released the funds to her 

I suspect the only way the PO a/c is still open is if they've not been informed of MIL's death. 

J63320

I’ve been a lurker on this thread for a while. I did probate for my husband’s estate a few years ago.
Something has not been mentioned: if there is a savings account that is still open, then it is likely that the correct value of the asset was not declared. The assets of the estate include any interest accrued up to the date of death, and to find out how much this is, you have to inform the institution concerned of the death and they will then issue a statement. If this has not happened, there are additional assets to be declared and a new grant will have to be obtained.

Flugelhorn

J63320 said:

I’ve been a lurker on this thread for a while. I did probate for my husband’s estate a few years ago.
Something has not been mentioned: if there is a savings account that is still open, then it is likely that the correct value of the asset was not declared. The assets of the estate include any interest accrued up to the date of death, and to find out how much this is, you have to inform the institution concerned of the death and they will then issue a statement. If this has not happened, there are additional assets to be declared and a new grant will have to be obtained.

I am not sure that that is the case, you can just find out the value of the account on a specific day and use that figure to apply for probate 

paul2louise

Get a drink and put your feet up for the latest reply from SIL to the solicitor. 🤣🤣🤣

Dear

Your attached letter is incomplete and could I ask you therefore to please resend it?   From the parts of it I can read, the following addresses some of your points:-

At your suggestion I will now be taking legal advice so this may take a while, especially as I’m away for the next week, so I politely request that you allow me time to do this.

From what I can see you make no mention of the bootloads of stuff my brother took home, nor accessing my sister-in-laws selling records.   As I’ve said, I am quite happy to distribute the estate once everything taken from the house, the bungalow and the garage is itemised and valued.  If I were to pay my brother £100,000 as an interim payment i don’t believe he will ever account for the items he removed, therefore I choose not to pay him until he provides this account.   This is really what is holding up distribution of the estate.  It is I believe at my discretion and not a requirement and I think this is reasonable in the circumstances as he is currently not being honest with either of us.  My brother’s household finances are very strong- he doesn’t need the money.  

He showed me he’d cleared the cupboards of food and taken the contents of her booze cupboard.  I spent the night there before we handed the keys back,  these things had definitely gone.  Yet he maintains he didn’t take anything other than the 3 items.  He cannot be believed.  I just want to get the estate accurate, draw a line under it and never speak to him again.   If, as he states, he has thrown away everything of value.  This is an appalling admission and the estate should be recompensed appropriately.   Two silver candlesticks for instance I bought my parents for their silver wedding have not been accounted for and are missing, all the old records, the radiogram, letters from Frankie Howard (my father used to write to celebrities, usually they didn’t reply but he got into correspondence with Frankie Howard), etc.

My mother never ever mentioned the coin collection, yet my brother has suggested to you that our father told our mother that he was to retain both and she gifted them to him.  She would have told me if she had.  We were always treated equally and I just can’t believe this, especially as all the pennies were my collection.

Spendless

Oh I can't wait for your DH's solicitor's reply to that one. I know who I'd back in a fight.

The booze cupboard. how much does she think 2nd hand and opened bottles are worth  (cos I'm guessing you're not talking a vintage  fine wine collection)  

I 'inheirted' my Nan's alcohol collection when she went into a nursing home. 3.5 years on still mostly not drunk, I gave it DS as he went to Uni. End of first term we picked him up fro Christmas, alcohol gone and he had loads of friends. That's what a 2nd hand collection of booze is worth - student party nights! 

I have seen people say to put a value of around £500 for odds and ends of personal possessions, I don't know whether this would be applicable in your case. Surely your sis=in-law can't hi-jack the inheritance forever more?