Wills

dazza-mac

Hi, firstly: I have one full brother and 2 half brothers. If I died intestate am I right in thinking that only my full brother would inherit anything I have because I'm not married, have no children, and parents are deceased?

Secondly, I hate the idea that anyone can check another person's will after they've died. So, can you tell me does the same apply if I die intestate? Would only my full brother know my business?

Bobziz

https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

Have a look at the questions via the link. Looks like your assumption is correct.

Not sure you can keep your estate details entirely private, but only gross and net values will be available.

badmemory

As far as I know a will is only public if it goes to probate. Dying intestate will mean a court document. Providing your estate is small enough with your brother as executor then you can put the money in savings acounts in amounts that are small enough for the banks not to require probate. So not NS&I & premium bonds.  If you own a house then I suspect the answer will be no

Keep_pedalling

If you own property, then your administrator will have to apply for probate regardless of how little other assets you have, so in that case there will be a public record of your estate.

Not to make a will because you don’t want people to see it after you have died is not a sensible thing to do. For a start what does it matter you will be dead and beyond caring. Secondly your half siblings will inherit should your full brother die before you and I get the impression that is not what you want to happen. If your brother did die before you it may be too late for you to make one as you may no longer have the capacity to do so then.

35har1old

badmemory said:

As far as I know a will is only public if it goes to probate. Dying intestate will mean a court document. Providing your estate is small enough with your brother as executor then you can put the money in savings acounts in amounts that are small enough for the banks not to require probate. So not NS&I & premium bonds.  If you own a house then I suspect the answer will be no

NS&I upto £5000 before requiring probate

badmemory

35har1old said:

badmemory said:

As far as I know a will is only public if it goes to probate. Dying intestate will mean a court document. Providing your estate is small enough with your brother as executor then you can put the money in savings acounts in amounts that are small enough for the banks not to require probate. So not NS&I & premium bonds.  If you own a house then I suspect the answer will be no

NS&I upto £5000 before requiring probate

Thanks - I thought they wanted it for any. So £4999 it is.

Keep_pedalling

35har1old said:

badmemory said:

As far as I know a will is only public if it goes to probate. Dying intestate will mean a court document. Providing your estate is small enough with your brother as executor then you can put the money in savings acounts in amounts that are small enough for the banks not to require probate. So not NS&I & premium bonds.  If you own a house then I suspect the answer will be no

NS&I upto £5000 before requiring probate

I think what they actually say is that probate may be required over £5k, so anything over £5k is discretionary. 

pjs493

Make a Will. 

Yes it does become a public document once Probate is granted, but who is going to go to the effort to look it up anyway? Someone who hoped to be a beneficiary but isn't? It won't make a difference or change their situation unless they have grounds to contest the Will and even then only a tiny number of contested Wills change the outcome (and even in those tiny number of cases its usually because there is some irregularity with the Will or it was made under duress, plus it's an expensive process). 

I'm sure celebrities or high net worth individuals will have people who want to see a copy of their will from a curiosity perspective, but for most people, it's not something people will be interested in.

badmemory

Definitely leave a will.  If you don't then things can more easily go wrong.  If nothing else a will will stop them trying to deal with stuff they shouldn't be.