Next of Kin don’t want to deal with estate & more

21pilots

My mother in laws partner of 35 years passed away suddenly last week. They never married, he has no biological children 

Important to add that MIL has dementia.

We haven’t been able to find a will, so rules of intestacy will apply. His parents are still alive and have said that they don’t want to deal with his estate and anything he has can go to my MIL but ‘we’ have to deal with it. it’s very likely that MIL will need to go into a home at some point, so any money will go towards her care. 

They owned a house together (mortgage free) and are Tenants in Common. 

We have some paperwork regarding a private pension, we know his bank details and that’s about it. We don’t know if he had life insurance, funeral plans etc. 

Any advice on how / where we even begin with this please? The questions we should be asking and to whom… 

many thanks 

theoretica

If you think he was likely to have a funeral plan:

https://myfuneralmatters.co.uk/trace-a-funeral-plan/

How old was he?  If he had life insurance (which seems less likely the older he was as so much more expensive) once someone has access to his bank account statements you will be able to check for payments.

doodling

Hi,

Sorry for your loss.

First, make absolutely sure you can't find a will.

You will need to apply for Letters of Administration in order to manage the estate.  Check to see who can apply for thiis and the order of priority - you may need something from the deceased's parents saying that they do not intend to apply.

You will also need to get the deceased's parents to agree to the equivalent of a deed of variation in favour of your MIL - if they just disclaim the inheritance then it will go to whoever is next in line in the intestacy rules rather than your MIL.

Applying for letter of administration can be done yourself if you wish, the forms are not too complex.  I'd use a solicitor for the deed of variation.  Alternatively you can use a solicitor for all of it.

21pilots

Judging by what we’ve seen so far, it’s probably unlikely he had either. I will see if we can get a bank statement. Thank you 

21pilots

doodling said:

Hi,

Sorry for your loss.

First, make absolutely sure you can't find a will.

You will need to apply for Letters of Administration in order to manage the estate.  Check to see who can apply for thiis and the order of priority - you may need something from the deceased's parents saying that they do not intend to apply.

You will also need to get the deceased's parents to agree to the equivalent of a deed of variation in favour of your MIL - if they just disclaim the inheritance then it will go to whoever is next in line in the intestacy rules rather than your MIL.

Applying for letter of administration can be done yourself if you wish, the forms are not too complex.  I'd use a solicitor for the deed of variation.  Alternatively you can use a solicitor for all of it.

Thank you. We have had a very good look but have another day planned to go through the house again just in case. We have phoned some local solicitors too but no luck. 

I will look into the letter of administration and deed of variation. We are just so worried about doing something that we shouldn’t do and end up in trouble! 

poppystar

It sounds like his parents might be elderly. If so, how much money do they have? Giving away their inheritance could lead to deprivation of assets if they subsequently need care but don’t have the resources because they have given it to your MIL. 

Flugelhorn

re the will - interesting if they had the property as TiC as it implies they were aware of how it would be distributed when one or other died. Is it worth checking how long it has been TiC and if there was a will done at that time

21pilots

poppystar said:

It sounds like his parents might be elderly. If so, how much money do they have? Giving away their inheritance could lead to deprivation of assets if they subsequently need care but don’t have the resources because they have given it to your MIL. 

I have no idea how much money they have, just like they have no idea how much I have…

I suspect they would have enough money to pay for care without this unexpected pay out 

21pilots

Flugelhorn said:

re the will - interesting if they had the property as TiC as it implies they were aware of how it would be distributed when one or other died. Is it worth checking how long it has been TiC and if there was a will done at that time

I believe it was done at time of purchase. We have found paperwork that suggests they made enquiries about making a will some years after but it was never followed through. With that solicitor anyway. 

Marcon

Flugelhorn said:

re the will - interesting if they had the property as TiC as it implies they were aware of how it would be distributed when one or other died. Is it worth checking how long it has been TiC and if there was a will done at that time

Any conveyancing solicitor worth their salt would have pointed out the potential pitfalls of an unmarried couple owning a property/dying intestate. OP, if you've got details of the solicitor who did the conveyancing, it might be worth asking if they did give advice on making a will - and hopefully even ensured one was made at the time.

Keep_pedalling

Probably the best solution is for his parents to give you power of attorney to act for them in applying for probate. They also need to make a deed of variation so that your MIL inherits instead of them.