Sons inheritance

lottieholder

My son has been left some money by his father.  He is one of 3 children by his first marriage (to me).  There was a proviso with his inheritance that a restraint order from 2011 had finished before he could receive his inheritance.  He has been to the court and been shown that the restraint order finished 2 years after it was ordered.  He asked for a copy of the proof that it was no longer in force and was asked to ask for it by email.  He did this and the email failed.  On ringing the court he was told he needed to make an appointment, so he tried to do this online but was told he needed to go in and make the appointment.  He works during the week so can't keep doing this.  Can anyone on this site advise us as to what to do.  We have been advised to use a solicitor but It'll cost money we don't have.

gwynlas

If he needs to have an appointment made in person surely that can be done by a representative with him attending once made. Who is asking for physical proof that restraint order lapsed 10 years ago?

Spendless

Can he only make the appointment in person? Can't he ring in his lunch break to make one? If he can only make the appointment in person, then he'll need a maximum of 2 days off - one to make the appointment, one to attend it. He could ask his employer if they allow half days off, or make them at the beginning or end of his shift and make the time back.  

thegreenone

Surely if his father is dead, the restraint order is no longer valid anyway?

lottieholder

His fathers 2nd wife is the executor and and trustee and is insisting on the proof. She isn't particularly fond of my exes first family.

The will says "I DECLARE that if at my death a Restraint Order prohibiting disposal of assets issued by XXXXXXXX Crown Court on the XXX, of AXXXX, 2011 against my son the said XXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXX has not been discharged my Trustees shall treat my said Son as having failed to survive me when executing the provisions of this Will."

My son is just coming out of a very bad stage of his life involving the break-up of a long term relationship and is homeless (sofa surfing) and broke.  Helping him has left me in somewhat dire straits financially.  He is self employed and only just getting back to work.  His ex destroyed his phone, laptop, passport and Driving Licence amongst other things.  He is having trouble replacing his DL and passport which he needs to be able to access his bank account.  She did get all paperwork re-addressed to my house.  He has a tax refund that he can't cash but would help enormously.

The Court isn't local to us.

Spendless

I suppose getting to the bottom of why he's having difficulty replacing his driving licence/passport and why he can't cash a tax refund would be the best first steps. Is this because he is currently of 'no fixed abode'? Or some other reason, presumably his employer pays wages into a bank account for him? 

Was the will drawn up by a solicitor? Can you make that a restriction of a will? I'm not saying you can't, just something I've never come across. It might help others responding who are more knowledgeable, what area of the UK you are in just in case different laws/rules apply to the circs.  

lottieholder

His earnings are currently going into one of my bank accounts.

The problems with replacing his DL and passport boil down to the depts dealing with this require info no longer available such as his old phone number and address.  His passport needs his old address and his driving licence wants his passport number.  His bank needs proof of ID preferably DL and/or passport.  To make matters worse, it's unlikely that his stepmother will pay the legacy to anyone else but an account in his name. And they all seem to want to send things to his old phone number which he can't remember or access.

We're in England. Although he's not living with me he's using my address so not really of no fixed abode.  He can live with me if he wants but he doesn't want to.  Yes, the will was drawn up by a solicitor who say they've done their bit and are no longer involved.

Sarahspangles

He may not be able to remember an old phone number but surely he knows previous addresses?  I just looked at the Driving Licensing page on Gov.uk and it asks for addresses for the last three years.  It then says “Provide your driving licence number, National Insurance number and passport number if you know them”.  If you provide passport details they can use the same photo for your driving licence but there are other arrangements if you don’t have a passport.

Keep_pedalling

That is an interesting clause and does not look like the thing a solicitor would include although conditional clauses are certainly a thing. If your son has children and the condition was not met then his bequest would pass to his children.

sheramber

https://www.loststolenpassport.service.gov.uk/report/what-was-your-address/en_GB?instance=1szm83Hhrx&change=17

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RAS

Even if you son has had everything destroyed by his ex, surely he phoned or texted a friend or two? They may still have his phone number in their address books?

Or did he email his phone number to anyone?