Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, and estranged Sons

TamVilla80

We are dealing with my late Father In Laws estate (about £250k altogether, with house value and cash) Based in England.
His will stated that everything was to be spilt between my husband and his sister, however, my father in law had 2 estranged children from a previous marriage. 
My husband has never met either of them, we don't know the reasons for the estrangement, but my Father In Law had no real contact with them for 30+ years.
When he passed, on the advice of older family members, we asked other family members who had limited contact with one of them to let them know of his passing.
This was in January, and my husband has this week received quite an aggressive letter from 1 of the sons (which is quite in character from what we have been told, could explain the estrangement, maybe? Also not sure how he has our address?!) asking to know the executors of the will, amongst a lot of ranting (executor was the bank, although they have renounced it to husband and his sister)
We think they are both 50+ with families and careers, haven't had any financial support from Father In Law for many years, and he always refused any contact with them.
Would they have any basis for a claim using the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975? Father in law's will was written 10+years ago, he was in good mind then and right up to his passing. 
Would we be ok to politely reply (we were going to politely reply with basic details) or should we get some legal advice and a solicitor to reply on our behalf (which I think looks defensive, more suspicious, and less personable)?
Sorry for the long post! It's been a long 12 months of my father in law's illness and passing, and we could do without this now too, it's exhausting so would appreciate any advice.

Keep_pedalling

Nothing stopping him making a claim but the chances of it succeeding is around zero. I would at this stage simply ignore the letter and you only need legal advice if he actually makes a claim. 

Have you actually obtained probate yet? Claims have to be made within 6 months of the executors obtaining it once that time is up you can safely distribute the estate.

GrumpyDil

First point to make is if father in law was not supporting them in some way prior to his death then no they will not have a claim. The act was designed to cover the scenario where someone died without making provision for dependants they were supporting. 

Second point is if you want a formal opinion you could get some formal legal advice or if you have legal cover through work or house insurance etc ask them. 

TamVilla80

Keep_pedalling said:

Nothing stopping him making a claim but the chances of it succeeding is around zero. I would at this stage simply ignore the letter and you only need legal advice if he actually makes a claim. 

Have you actually obtained probate yet? Claims have to be made within 6 months of the executors obtaining it once that time is up you can safely distribute the estate.

Thank you. We have sent the probate application off and it's in the queue I presume, they emailed to confirm receipt on 6 August so think we have a few weeks wait yet!
We don't want to aggravate the situation, he and my father in law obviously had issues which we don't know anything about it as everyone is so secretive, but not sure if not replying would make it worse. At the same time, we want to do everything properly so he can't say we were trying to hide anything. It's so hard, just want a quiet life!

Keep_pedalling

TamVilla80 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

Nothing stopping him making a claim but the chances of it succeeding is around zero. I would at this stage simply ignore the letter and you only need legal advice if he actually makes a claim. 

Have you actually obtained probate yet? Claims have to be made within 6 months of the executors obtaining it once that time is up you can safely distribute the estate.

Thank you. We have sent the probate application off and it's in the queue I presume, they emailed to confirm receipt on 6 August so think we have a few weeks wait yet!
We don't want to aggravate the situation, he and my father in law obviously had issues which we don't know anything about it as everyone is so secretive, but not sure if not replying would make it worse. At the same time, we want to do everything properly so he can't say we were trying to hide anything. It's so hard, just want a quiet life!

You won’t be hiding anything once probate is granted it becomes a a public record, until then he is entitled to nothing from the executors. 

Flugelhorn

I would ignore it for now and see what happens, the clock starts ticking when the probate is granted - though as others have pointed out that with no support for well over 30 years there is unlikely to ever be a chance of success with a claim

WYSPECIAL

If your husband has never met his half siblings and presumably has no wish to do so Why not use the same communication route as before? 

Ask the the relative who does have contact to inform them that the Will is being dealt with via probate now Andy if they wish to have a copy they can purchase one from them.

Flugelhorn

WYSPECIAL said:

If your husband has never met his half siblings and presumably has no wish to do so Why not use the same communication route as before? 

Ask the the relative who does have contact to inform them that the Will is being dealt with via probate now Andy if they wish to have a copy they can purchase one from them.

trouble with using a third party is you don't know the history and can't be sure of any embellishments or amendments made to messages or comments.  

Keep_pedalling

WYSPECIAL said:

If your husband has never met his half siblings and presumably has no wish to do so Why not use the same communication route as before? 

Ask the the relative who does have contact to inform them that the Will is being dealt with via probate now Andy if they wish to have a copy they can purchase one from them.

That original contact appears to have triggered the problem, I would not be making that mistake again.

TonyMMM

They are your husband's half-siblings and have also lost their father - even if he has no desire to know them I would ignore the tone of their letter and just reply politely, expressing your condolences, telling them who the executors are, and enclose a copy of the will. Doing that, rather than immediately being confrontational and involving solicitors, may defuse things now that they have had their opportunity to "vent" ....

You could consider asking if there was any small item (maybe a photo or something) from their father that they would like for sentimental reasons.

You can't stop them making a claim ( however unlikely it is to succeed), but you want to avoid that if at all possible given the potential stress, delays and costs it may cause to the estate.

Keep_pedalling

TonyMMM said:

They are your husband's half-siblings and have also lost their father - even if he has no desire to know them I would ignore the tone of their letter and just reply politely, expressing your condolences, telling them who the executors are, and enclose a copy of the will. Doing that, rather than immediately being confrontational and involving solicitors, may defuse things now that they have had their opportunity to "vent" ....

You could consider asking if there was any small item (maybe a photo or something) from their father that they would like for sentimental reasons.

You can't stop them making a claim ( however unlikely it is to succeed), but you want to avoid that if at all possible given the potential stress, delays and costs it may cause to the estate.

I can’t see the point of providing a copy of the will, they will be able to see that once probate has been granted. This person sounds like trouble and they can gum things up by submitting a caveat to the probate office, better not to poke a stick in that hornets nest.