Discharge document renouncing a legal rights scotland

iamlindypops

Hi,

I am hoping someone can help me draft a letter to my brother who was removed from our mother's will.  She did not want him to gain anything after her death due to some of the very cruel things he did to her and they hadn't spoken in more than 10 years prior to her passing.

I want to honour her wishes but am bound by Scottish law as he has a legal rights entitlement, I have been trying to write a letter for several months but cannot seem to find the correct words to

1. Let him know he has legal rights 2. Ask him to renounce his rights.

I have been trying to calculate the final estate value but am being held back by my sister who as POA did not correctly record her spend and withdrew large quantities of cash from mum's account and used a combination cash & mum's bank card for all the transactions, many receipts are missing or if supplied, the ink has worn not allowing me to see the value.

She is confused as some of the receipts were for herself and some for mum.  My sister has difficulty with all forms of technology and cannot understand basic financial recording, she does not use online banking preferring to use cheques to pay bills.

I am concerned that I will have to prove to our brother how I calculated his inheritance, my understanding is that as there are three surviving children, my sister and myself receive 5/12ths with my disinherited brother receiving 1/6th.

My sister handed me two full carrier bags with three years of receipts carelessly thrown in with no order, I have had to go through all receipts supplied creating a spreadsheet detailing item by item to try calculate the money removed from the account matches the value of the receipts.  I don't think I will be able to do this as the amount she removed / spent totals £6,784.56.  She also has another bag of receipts to send to me, I am based in London and she is in Aberdeen, she has physical disabilities and also a extreme hoarder which makes it more difficult for her to locate what I need.

I have been trying to find a sample letter that covers points 1 & 2 without success and need some help.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to read this

Kind Regards

Linda 🙏

Keep_pedalling

You sibling only has rights to her movable estate, so no right to a share in any property she owed.

Frankly unless you think your sister was acting fraudulently I would simple concentrate on the assets your mother held at the time of her death, you don’t need to account for her spending prior to that.

If you are the executor then yes you have to inform him of his legal rights. 

buddy9

In line with keep_pedalling, pre-death expenditure is of no consequence - unless your sister borrowed money and requires to pay it back to the estate.

You need first to know the value of the net moveable estate at date of death. You then subtract all relevant estate expenditure to give the true net moveable estate value.

If you have an interest the Law Society of Scotland has guidance for their members.

There is an example of a renunciation form online of the type that a solicitor might use. This might not be a useful style for you, it depends on family dynamics.

Your knowledge of family dynamics might influence how you put a letter. Bu a letter or email might include some introductory text then say:

As you know, mum excluded you from her will. However in Scots Law you nevertheless have an entitlement to legal rights if you wish to claim them.

After deduction of all relevant expenses, the net moveable estate is currently sitting at £xxxxxxx

Your entitlement is to one sixth of the net moveable estate which would currently be £xxxxx.

Could you please advise me if you wish to claim or to renounce your legal rights.

iamlindypops

Keep_pedalling said:

You sibling only has rights to her movable estate, so no right to a share in any property she owed.

Frankly unless you think your sister was acting fraudulently I would simple concentrate on the assets your mother held at the time of her death, you don’t need to account for her spending prior to that.

If you are the executor then yes you have to inform him of his legal rights. 

Hi,

Thank you for your advice, I don't believe my sister was acting fraudulently, just irresponsible with how she spent mum's money.

I am joint executor with my sister but she wants me to do everything as she doesn't use a computer, I have been informing her of everything I do, so I will send her a text message with a copy of what I will write on behalf of both of us to our brother.

Thank you so very much

Linda 🙏🏻

iamlindypops

buddy9 said:

In line with keep_pedalling, pre-death expenditure is of no consequence - unless your sister borrowed money and requires to pay it back to the estate.

You need first to know the value of the net moveable estate at date of death. You then subtract all relevant estate expenditure to give the true net moveable estate value.

If you have an interest the Law Society of Scotland has guidance for their members.

There is an example of a renunciation form online of the type that a solicitor might use. This might not be a useful style for you, it depends on family dynamics.

Your knowledge of family dynamics might influence how you put a letter. Bu a letter or email might include some introductory text then say:

As you know, mum excluded you from her will. However in Scots Law you nevertheless have an entitlement to legal rights if you wish to claim them.

After deduction of all relevant expenses, the net moveable estate is currently sitting at £xxxxxxx

Your entitlement is to one sixth of the net moveable estate which would currently be £xxxxx.

Could you please advise me if you wish to claim or to renounce your legal rights.

Thank you,

This makes sense, I thought I would have to breakdown all of mum's bank account over a period of years.  Now I know this is not the case, as POA I was paying all her bills and covered all the costs of the funeral and any related cost in having her property emptied.

Hopefully this is a simple procedure now, my only further question is, do I have to let him know the net moveable estate?

Kind Regards

Linda 🙏🏻

buddy9

A solicitor would be duty bound to inform a potential claimant what the value is. As a lay person, you can do what you think is appropriate

iamlindypops

buddy9 said:

A solicitor would be duty bound to inform a potential claimant what the value is. As a lay person, you can do what you think is appropriate

Thank you again, I think I should inform him, better to not hide anything.  🙏🏻