Inheritance Act Nightmare

mattojgb

Yes all the assets owned either by your father or your stepmother (e.g. car, savings, etc) (and jointly held assets).

BikingBud

Urban_Tangleweed said:

TBagpuss said:

Where an inheritance act clai is mae by a widow or widower, one of the factors a court onsiders is what the outcome would have been had the marriage ended as a result of a divorce rather than death.

In a divorce after a 30 years marriage, the starting point would have been a 50/50 split of the total assets.(so including assets in her sole name)

It may be worth making an offer along those lines - perhaps for the hosueto be sold (or transferred to the Wife if she can afford it, either by pffsetting the rmaining half againt other assets, or if she is in a positon to obtain a lifetime mrtfage ) - the advantage of that approach would be that you could have a clean break now, and she would be able to leave her share ofthe estate as she wishes 

You could also look at a proposal along those lines but on the basis that she is entitled to occupy the property during her lifetimesubject to being respnsble for the maintenace / 50% of the meaintence costs .

Iagree with your solicitor that on the face of it, she would appear to have a fiarly strong cae as it doesn't sound as though your father made reasonable provison for her given the legth of the marraige etc

My thinking is to suggest the entire estate be liquidated and the nett proceeds split 50/50. A clean break I think would be the way to go given the acrimony this is causing, even though it's not how my father intended it to be. He's kind of left me at the coal face with a blunt pick.

 He's kind of left me at the coal face with a blunt pick. In the dark and with no idea of where the pit shaft/pitfalls are?

Newly_retired

I am not sure that the widow would agree to her personal assets being included in any calculations. Can she be forced to? They could have come from a previous marriage or an inheritance from her parents, or her earnings.... This is not a divorce, though I understand the thinking.
How old is she? Is she is good health? How long is she likely to live? ( Not that there is an exact answer to that.

If she can afford to buy half the property, and get half her husband's cash assets, would that suffice?
Or let the property be sold, and the nett proceeds of the sale be split with her?
Or, as I suggested earlier, see if she will accept a cash lump sum as an (almost ) clean break, to carry on living there but be responsible for mainentance.
It is a question of what is the least that will satisfy her, and also satsify you, to settle peaceably.

mattojgb

The divorce check is enshrined in law - but only as a guide. If Court proceedings were commenced the stepmother would have to disclose all her financial affairs.

Urban_Tangleweed

Many thanks for all the comments, in order to try and resolve this so we can move on, I've proposed the property be sold and the proceeds from this be combined with his cash assets and the total nett sum be split 50/50. Hopefully, this will bring an end to the whole sorry saga.

TripleH

If the assets pre-marriage aren't counted, then surely an element of the fathers estate would need to be ignored as it came pre marriage?

If the offer is rejected then it will hopefully look more in your favour and I'd be inclined to argue a much lower figure.

Keep_pedalling

TripleH said:

If the assets pre-marriage aren't counted, then surely an element of the fathers estate would need to be ignored as it came pre marriage?

If the offer is rejected then it will hopefully look more in your favour and I'd be inclined to argue a much lower figure.

They were married for 30 years so a court would not take pre-marriage assets into account. Where a reasonable compromise has been offered but rejected then a court will look on that favourable especially when it comes down to awarding costs.

Urban_Tangleweed

Keep_pedalling said:

TripleH said:

If the assets pre-marriage aren't counted, then surely an element of the fathers estate would need to be ignored as it came pre marriage?

If the offer is rejected then it will hopefully look more in your favour and I'd be inclined to argue a much lower figure.

They were married for 30 years so a court would not take pre-marriage assets into account. Where a reasonable compromise has been offered but rejected then a court will look on that favourable especially when it comes down to awarding costs.

My father bought the bungalow in October 1981 and married his now widow in September 1986. I am unsure as to how long they had been together at that point, but seem to think it had been only a couple of years at the maximum.