Intestacy rules, can they be challenged?

Flugelhorn

So we have Dad who died and said to each child that only they were to have the money. Oh joy, he must be having a laugh now. 

In the absence of a will people can't just make it up - it is intestacy only unless one of you opts to give up your share.

stuhse

Which is 50/50. That begs the question what on earth is your solicitor doing sending you through a court process. It's a straight forward situation.   Without further info I'd suggest they are fueling the fire and lining their pockets at you and your sisters expense.

kuratowski

Jarndyce and Jarndyce - Wikipedia

(Posted as a warning!)

Grumpy_chap

cc1901 said:

My dad passed away in January with no will. No surviving spouse, just myself and my sister. 

My sister claims my dad didn’t want her to have any money, he said to me he didn’t want her to have any. No written evidence. 

If your Dad told your sister he did not want you to have any money and also told you he did not want your sister to have any money, who did your Dad want to have the money?

Keep_pedalling

Does your sister have possession of the money?

cc1901

Thank you all.

Estate is worth less than £10k.

my sister notified the bank of his passing and withdrew the money on 21/02/23. She did not tell me she had the money. I only found out at the beginning of April after contacting the bank myself as she had lied saying the bank would not release the funds until all utility bills were paid (funeral was paid for separately). So she (hopefully) still has the money.

Advised by citizens advice and solicitor to raise a small claims court case myself due to the value of the estate and cost of solicitors. 

He always said to me he did not want her to have any money as she is an ex junkie and is on morphine regularly for pain.
She did little for dad, I was his carer for the past 7/8 years. I know I should have gotten him to write a will but I’m sure she would have contested that!

With the research I did I just wanted to be completely sure there were no loopholes she could use.

Keep_pedalling

cc1901 said:

Thank you all.

Estate is worth less than £10k.

my sister notified the bank of his passing and withdrew the money on 21/02/23. She did not tell me she had the money. I only found out at the beginning of April after contacting the bank myself as she had lied saying the bank would not release the funds until all utility bills were paid (funeral was paid for separately). So she (hopefully) still has the money.

Advised by citizens advice and solicitor to raise a small claims court case myself due to the value of the estate and cost of solicitors. 

He always said to me he did not want her to have any money as she is an ex junkie and is on morphine regularly for pain.
She did little for dad, I was his carer for the past 7/8 years. I know I should have gotten him to write a will but I’m sure she would have contested that!

With the research I did I just wanted to be completely sure there were no loopholes she could use.

Unfortunately lots of people like your father must imaging their wishes will magically happen without writing a will.

You will likely win your small claims court case and your sister will get a CCJ against her, but getting the money out of her is another thin especially is she has no assets and has already spent it.

Sea_Shell

Sadly, if solicitors get involved, you'll both likely end up with very little of the estate is only £10k to start with.

How much of your £5k "share" are you willing to throw at the problem if she doesn't play ball?

cc1901

It’s an awful situation- the money would be very handy as most was going to my two children.

i tried to get the bank to freeze her account as I fear the money is already gone, police wouldn’t help said it was a civil matter. The legal process takes a long time and doesn’t really help the person that the crime has been committed against.

uknick

cc1901 said:

It’s an awful situation- the money would be very handy as most was going to my two children.

i tried to get the bank to freeze her account as I fear the money is already gone, police wouldn’t help said it was a civil matter. The legal process takes a long time and doesn’t really help the person that the crime has been committed against.

The attitude of the police in this type of matter really, really hisses me off!!!

If she's taken something from another person that is not legally hers and intends to deprive the other person permanently that is theft, pure and simple.  It's a bit like they won't deal with banking fraud.  What they really mean is, it might not be straightforward to prosecute so not worth the the risk of screwing up their crime stats.

Plus, if the police don't think it's theft, one can arguie it's criminal fraud. This is defined as when a person dishonestly makes a false representation in order to gain for themselves or cause loss to another.  Surely that's what you sister did at the bank.