Only getting half expected inheritance?

p00hsticks

sheslookinhot said:

A persons estate goes 100% to the surviving spouse, unless a will is available.

Not necessarily.
Without a will, the intestacy laws in England and Wales give the spouse the first £322k of the estate,  and anything above that is divided 50-50 between the spouse and any children. 
In Scotland it's more complicated. 
You can see how the various intestacy rules play out on this gov.uk calculator here
Intestacy - who inherits if someone dies without a will? - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

RedImp_2

Doesn’t seem to add up that half the fees are going to the care home he’s lived in for ‘years’.
Why would they not be paid as they went, if there was a property involved doesn’t seem to be a barrier on selling that previously.  You would assume someone was handling the deceased’s finances if that wasn’t your friend.
Only other thing that comes to mind is if large gifts were made in the last 7 years therefore increasing the IHT bill?

Grumpy_chap

RedImp_2 said:

Doesn’t seem to add up that half the fees are going to the care home he’s lived in for ‘years’.
Why would they not be paid as they went, if there was a property involved doesn’t seem to be a barrier on selling that previously.  

Sometimes, when there is a property involved, the Local Authority will fund the care in return for a charge against the property so that, when the property is involved, the Local Authority recover what they paid out.

gravel_2

sheslookinhot said:

How long was the father in a care home ? Fees can range from £5-£6.5 per month. 

This quirk in Scotland that is mentioned is unknown to me. A persons estate goes 100% to the surviving spouse, unless a will is available.

That is not accurate. I think you are talking about "prior rights". I oversimplified above as I inferred there was no surviving spouse. Your example only works on a relatively small estate. The flow chart here is quite useful to understand it:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/wills-and-probate/content/103535

Angelica123

Why doesn't your friend just ask the solicitor? It may have just been bad wording and the solicitor meant half =200k. We would all be guessing - the solicitor could answer this easily. 

Also this is probably the wrong subforum. There is a deaths, funeral and probate subforum. 

theDon876

RedImp_2 said:

Doesn’t seem to add up that half the fees are going to the care home he’s lived in for ‘years’.
Why would they not be paid as they went, if there was a property involved doesn’t seem to be a barrier on selling that previously.  You would assume someone was handling the deceased’s finances if that wasn’t your friend.
Only other thing that comes to mind is if large gifts were made in the last 7 years therefore increasing the IHT bill?

The property was sold about 5 years ago when he went into the care home, it sold for £320k. I assumed the money from the sale of the property would pay for the care home while he was in it, which would probably be around £60k-80 per year X 5 years would be £300k -£400k, I could be off with these numbers . The will says the estate is worth £400k and the 2 brothers will equally share £200k of this so £100k each. So that means £200k has gone elsewhere. But the weird thing is it's all exactly halved. Maybe that £200k paid for the care home or maybe it's a clerical error.

theDon876

Grumpy_chap said:

RedImp_2 said:

Doesn’t seem to add up that half the fees are going to the care home he’s lived in for ‘years’.
Why would they not be paid as they went, if there was a property involved doesn’t seem to be a barrier on selling that previously.  

Sometimes, when there is a property involved, the Local Authority will fund the care in return for a charge against the property so that, when the property is involved, the Local Authority recover what they paid out.

This makes the most sense.

masonic

The will is unlikely to contain an accurate/current valuation of the estate, so what matters is what the executors have been able to find, less any debts. That appears to be the figure of £200k.

Gers

This may be what is called 'legal rights', a Scottish quirk indeed.  If you head over to the Deaths, Funerals and Probate board there is a very knowledgable member, Buddy9 who could possible help. Confirmation is a very different beast to Probate and not as simple.

Marcon

Several pages of answers, mainly based on speculation, when surely those suggesting the obvious  - asking the solicitor - is all that's needed (and also the only way to be sure)?