Intestate Death Problem with Siblings

johnsonruby123

Hi, new to this, and would appreciate any input, views or knowledge you may have. 

Short version is:  2 estranged siblings have come 'out of the woodwork' within hours of finding out that our father had passed away.  My brother wants to 'take care' of the estate.  There is very little, no property, maybe a little more in the bank than will cover his funeral costs.  However, I don't believe my brother should be allowed/or is able to do this.  The reason for this is that he has his benefits paid to someone else as he is deemed as incapable of dealing with his own financial affairs.  The other sibling has had no contact with our father for approx 15-25 years.

The slightly longer version.  

My father has recently died, and didn't have a will, we all live in England.

He wasn't married when he died, he didn't remarry or have another children after my mum and he divorced.

He had 4 children, 3 daughters (one of which is me) and 1 son.

One of my sisters died last year, which left him with 3 children.

At the time of his death 1 of his granddaughters was his main carer and did a fantastic job looking after him.

Now our father has passed away my remaining brother and sister have turned up and joined together in an attempt to exclude me.  

My sister has not seen or spoken to our father in approx 15-25 years.

My brother has had little contact either.  However, he now wants to "sort it out".  I don't think this is appropriate as due to his mental health conditions, he doesn't even receive his own benefits due to not being able to deal with his own finances.  This not due to a learning difficulty by the way.

I don't particularly want to be the one to sort our father's affairs as I had to do this for our mum last year (I was named Executor in her will) and found it emotionally very difficult.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Hope someone out there will share their thoughts.

elsien

If there is no property and little in the bank after the funeral has been paid then there is probably no need for letters of administration.
Who is sorting out the funeral? - if the bank has been informed that he has passed away then the account should be frozen for now but the funeral expenses can still be paid directly from the account to the funeral director.
You can also register a caveat at the probate registry if you are concerned that someone inappropriate is applying, and inability to manage his own finances you would hope would rule someone out.
Using a caveat to prevent a grant of probate | The Gazette
However if you don't want them to do it, and you don't want to do it yourself, what do you want to happen?

Keep_pedalling

Any of you can sort out his estate but is all he has is a few thousand in a bank then no probate required and all one of you needs to do is present the bank with a copy of his death certificate and proof that you are who you say you are. 

Ideally whoever appoints the funeral director is the one who needs to do this.

Mojisola

johnsonruby123 said:

Short version is:  2 estranged siblings have come 'out of the woodwork' within hours of finding out that our father had passed away.  

My brother wants to 'take care' of the estate.  

There is very little, no property, maybe a little more in the bank than will cover his funeral costs. 

One of my sisters died last year, which left him with 3 children.

Who registered the death?

If there isn't much money, the bank will pay out directly to someone with the death certificate and identification.

Why aren't you doing it?  Keep careful records of funeral costs and any expenses you incur in sorting out the estate.

If your deceased sister had any living children, they will split her share between them.

TBagpuss

If there is enough in the bank to cover the funeral you can probably also get the bank to pay the funeral director directly from the bank account.

If you don't want to deal with it, then you can allow the other two to fight over it between themselves.

doodling

Hi,

What is your concern?

If it is making sure that a funeral happens then you can do this without taking on the role of executor.  If you have evidence that you are your Dad's daughter and have the death certificate then the bank should let you withdraw money to pay for the funeral.  Only take out what you need for the funeral - taking out more might be taken as an indication that you intend to deal with his estate as a whole rather than just the funeral.

If your concern is making sure that you receive items of sentimental (but not monetary) value then I would just take them if you have access to do so, you can sort it out with your siblings later if an argument arises.

If your concern is the monetary value of any inheritance then the most reliable way forward is to take on the role of executor (or administrator if there was no will).  If there was no will then any of your Dad's children could apply to be Administrator - probably best to get in first if that is important to you. If there was a will then what does it say?

If none of the above is a concern then you can just do nothing - it is a perfectly valid thing to do.

Marcon

johnsonruby123 said:

Hi, new to this, and would appreciate any input, views or knowledge you may have. 

Short version is:  2 estranged siblings have come 'out of the woodwork' within hours of finding out that our father had passed away.  My brother wants to 'take care' of the estate.  There is very little, no property, maybe a little more in the bank than will cover his funeral costs.  However, I don't believe my brother should be allowed/or is able to do this.  The reason for this is that he has his benefits paid to someone else as he is deemed as incapable of dealing with his own financial affairs.  The other sibling has had no contact with our father for approx 15-25 years.

The slightly longer version.  

My father has recently died, and didn't have a will, we all live in England.

He wasn't married when he died, he didn't remarry or have another children after my mum and he divorced.

He had 4 children, 3 daughters (one of which is me) and 1 son.

One of my sisters died last year, which left him with 3 children.

At the time of his death 1 of his granddaughters was his main carer and did a fantastic job looking after him.

Now our father has passed away my remaining brother and sister have turned up and joined together in an attempt to exclude me.  

My sister has not seen or spoken to our father in approx 15-25 years.

My brother has had little contact either.  However, he now wants to "sort it out".  I don't think this is appropriate as due to his mental health conditions, he doesn't even receive his own benefits due to not being able to deal with his own finances.  This not due to a learning difficulty by the way.

I don't particularly want to be the one to sort our father's affairs as I had to do this for our mum last year (I was named Executor in her will) and found it emotionally very difficult.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Hope someone out there will share their thoughts.

If you don't want to do the job, then don't; there is no requirement for you to do so (and you can't hurt the feelings of the dead).

If you don't, then let one or both of your siblings get on with it and step out of the picture. Given how little the estate is apparently worth, it could turn out to be insolvent if creditors appear on the scene, so definitely one to walk away from before you even start.

You can't have it both ways -and my guess the latter route is going to be infinitely preferable from your perspective.