Inheritance Act Nightmare

Gers

Urban_Tangleweed said:

My father passed away late last year and left his estate to me with his widow (my step-mother) given the right to live in the property and it be maintained and insured from the residuary funds from the estate.

mattojgb said:

bobster2 said:

mattojgb said:

I would tend to agree with keep pedalling. On the face of it your father made no financial provision for his wife. She would therefore seem to have a strong case. Hard to know what reasonable provision for her would be without actual figures - but I don't think she would have any entitlement to the house.

Does giving her the right to live in the property for life, without paying rent, maintenance or insurance, not constitute finanical provision?

To the extend that she was financially dependent on him when he was alive - this provision would seem to continue most of that support.

Most of this is ultimately for the benefit of the children. What if she cannot afford to pay bills? She is not in a position to downsize. As a minimum I would expect provision to be made for bills to be paid as that was what the husband did previously.

Have a read of the first sentence from the OP!

Newly_retired

It already sounds complicated for the property to be "maintained and insured from the residuary funds from the estate." The widow is going to need to keep asking the residual beneficiaries for funds to be released every time something needs doing eg boiler service, shrubs trimmed, roof repaired? What is the definition of maintenance? What does it include? Sounds to me like carte blanche to demand all sorts of payments. 

I am in a similar position to the widow, though we owned our property as TiC, his Will giving me the right to live here for as long as I wish ( or to downsize)  but I did inherit a portion of my late husband's estate, which, together with my own pensions and widow's pensions, provides me with the funds I need to maintain the property. However, it was specified in my husband's will that I am responsible for maintenance and insurance. A possible solution would be to transfer the responsibility for maintenance to the widow, and transfer her a lump sum for the purpose of maintenance of the property for life.

Marcon

Urban_Tangleweed said:

My father passed away late last year and left his estate to me with his widow (my step-mother) given the right to live in the property and it be maintained and insured from the residuary funds from the estate.

His Will is watertight but she is threatening a claim under the Inheritance Act 1975 which is causing me considerable distress as it is not what he wanted and I care greatly that his last wishes be fully respected. However, my solicitor tells me she has a strong case.

Maybe an experienced solicitor with access to all the relevant paperwork and background is best placed to advise, rather than a random bunch of strangers giving opinions based on nothing more than a brief post from you?

Urban_Tangleweed said:

I have a great problem with varying his wishes and find the whole thing disrespectful and distasteful, but am wondering if it's worth all the stress and maybe I should give her what she wants to avoid a potentially costly and lengthy court process that might also end up going against what he wanted.

My fathers main reason for making the Will as he did, was to avoid his assets being diverted to her son who, although now well past middle age, has always been a financial burden to his mother.

This has been going on between our respective solicitors for a few months and I'm growing weary of it and wondering if it's best just to give in so I can get my life back.

That's entirely understandable, but think of it from another angle: how much would your father, whom you clearly loved dearly and who doubtless loved you just as much in return, want you to put yourself through a process you are finding so stressful you describe it as a 'nightmare' and say you want to '...get your life back'.

Have a word with your solicitor and see if there's any sort of halfway house where you can offer 'something' to end this misery, but still ensure your father's main wish (to stop assets being diverted to your stepbrother) is still respected.

Sea_Shell

Urban_Tangleweed said:

My father passed away late last year and left his estate to me with his widow (my step-mother) given the right to live in the property and it be maintained and insured from the residuary funds from the estate.

On this point, more widely, if this IS what the will states...   

How is this not leaving an "open chequebook" from the estate?    Does this mean, in effect, that the cash estate can never be formally distributed to the residuary beneficiaries and remains in limbo indefinitely?   And could be called on by SM, if she decides she wants to make 'improvements'.     New bathroom?  Employ a Gardener?  

Who decides what 'maintenance' is actually needed, at what cost?  

OP, are you the residuary beneficiary?   If not, who is?  

Urban_Tangleweed

Newly_retired said:

It already sounds complicated for the property to be "maintained and insured from the residuary funds from the estate." The widow is going to need to keep asking the residual beneficiaries for funds to be released every time something needs doing eg boiler service, shrubs trimmed, roof repaired? What is the definition of maintenance? What does it include? Sounds to me like carte blanche to demand all sorts of payments. 

I am in a similar position to the widow, though we owned our property as TiC, his Will giving me the right to live here for as long as I wish ( or to downsize)  but I did inherit a portion of my late husband's estate, which, together with my own pensions and widow's pensions, provides me with the funds I need to maintain the property. However, it was specified in my husband's will that I am responsible for maintenance and insurance. A possible solution would be to transfer the responsibility for maintenance to the widow, and transfer her a lump sum for the purpose of maintenance of the property for life.

Thank you very much for your post. It gave me much food for thought, and helped me approach the situation from a different angle. It was indeed extremely helpful.

Urban_Tangleweed

Sea_Shell said:

Urban_Tangleweed said:

My father passed away late last year and left his estate to me with his widow (my step-mother) given the right to live in the property and it be maintained and insured from the residuary funds from the estate.

On this point, more widely, if this IS what the will states...   

How is this not leaving an "open chequebook" from the estate?    Does this mean, in effect, that the cash estate can never be formally distributed to the residuary beneficiaries and remains in limbo indefinitely?   And could be called on by SM, if she decides she wants to make 'improvements'.     New bathroom?  Employ a Gardener?  

Who decides what 'maintenance' is actually needed, at what cost?  

OP, are you the residuary beneficiary?   If not, who is?  

Yes, I am the beneficiary and you're right, it's potentially a minefield. My father would never have thought it would go this way and I am trying to resolve it (with professional legal help) as best I can in order to honour his wishes.

Sea_Shell

Urban_Tangleweed said:

Sea_Shell said:

Urban_Tangleweed said:

My father passed away late last year and left his estate to me with his widow (my step-mother) given the right to live in the property and it be maintained and insured from the residuary funds from the estate.

On this point, more widely, if this IS what the will states...   

How is this not leaving an "open chequebook" from the estate?    Does this mean, in effect, that the cash estate can never be formally distributed to the residuary beneficiaries and remains in limbo indefinitely?   And could be called on by SM, if she decides she wants to make 'improvements'.     New bathroom?  Employ a Gardener?  

Who decides what 'maintenance' is actually needed, at what cost?  

OP, are you the residuary beneficiary?   If not, who is?  

Yes, I am the beneficiary and you're right, it's potentially a minefield. My father would never have thought it would go this way and I am trying to resolve it (with professional legal help) as best I can in order to honour his wishes.

Did he ever say how he thought that clause would work?

Urban_Tangleweed

Marcon said:

Urban_Tangleweed said:

My father passed away late last year and left his estate to me with his widow (my step-mother) given the right to live in the property and it be maintained and insured from the residuary funds from the estate.

His Will is watertight but she is threatening a claim under the Inheritance Act 1975 which is causing me considerable distress as it is not what he wanted and I care greatly that his last wishes be fully respected. However, my solicitor tells me she has a strong case.

Maybe an experienced solicitor with access to all the relevant paperwork and background is best placed to advise, rather than a random bunch of strangers giving opinions based on nothing more than a brief post from you?

Urban_Tangleweed said:

I have a great problem with varying his wishes and find the whole thing disrespectful and distasteful, but am wondering if it's worth all the stress and maybe I should give her what she wants to avoid a potentially costly and lengthy court process that might also end up going against what he wanted.

My fathers main reason for making the Will as he did, was to avoid his assets being diverted to her son who, although now well past middle age, has always been a financial burden to his mother.

This has been going on between our respective solicitors for a few months and I'm growing weary of it and wondering if it's best just to give in so I can get my life back.

That's entirely understandable, but think of it from another angle: how much would your father, whom you clearly loved dearly and who doubtless loved you just as much in return, want you to put yourself through a process you are finding so stressful you describe it as a 'nightmare' and say you want to '...get your life back'.

Have a word with your solicitor and see if there's any sort of halfway house where you can offer 'something' to end this misery, but still ensure your father's main wish (to stop assets being diverted to your stepbrother) is still respected.

Thank you, good and thought provoking points there. This situation is not one I've found myself in before and floating it on here has generated responses which I'm sure have, and will continue, to be helpful to me.

Urban_Tangleweed

Sea_Shell said:

Urban_Tangleweed said:

Sea_Shell said:

Urban_Tangleweed said:

My father passed away late last year and left his estate to me with his widow (my step-mother) given the right to live in the property and it be maintained and insured from the residuary funds from the estate.

On this point, more widely, if this IS what the will states...   

How is this not leaving an "open chequebook" from the estate?    Does this mean, in effect, that the cash estate can never be formally distributed to the residuary beneficiaries and remains in limbo indefinitely?   And could be called on by SM, if she decides she wants to make 'improvements'.     New bathroom?  Employ a Gardener?  

Who decides what 'maintenance' is actually needed, at what cost?  

OP, are you the residuary beneficiary?   If not, who is?  

Yes, I am the beneficiary and you're right, it's potentially a minefield. My father would never have thought it would go this way and I am trying to resolve it (with professional legal help) as best I can in order to honour his wishes.

Did he ever say how he thought that clause would work?

Yes, but he would never have expected for it to go the way it has. If he could see what was occurring, he'd be furious.

Sea_Shell

Was it drawn up by solicitors?

Regardless of any claim under the act, it sounds like the residual estate could just be eroded away, with these allowable costs.

How much is in the RE?   Enough to cover, say £2000 a year for X years?