Chance of inheritance?

elsien

it is possible for a divorce to go through for someone who lacks capacity. They would need a litigation friend and it would not be a quick process. 

There is something a little undignified about scrambling around for inheritance whilst someone is still alive. 

I would suggest going back to your previous presumption that you won’t get anything and then it will be a pleasant surprise if you do.

1404

elsien said:

it is possible for a divorce to go through for someone who lacks capacity. They would need a litigation friend and it would not be a quick process. 

There is something a little undignified about scrambling around for inheritance whilst someone is still alive. 

I would suggest going back to your previous presumption that you won’t get anything and then it will be a pleasant surprise if you do.

I have been advised by professionals dealing with my father to seek legal advice on this subject as it has a direct bearing on whether he ends up in a care home or not. The "other side" are suspected to be keeping him out of a home in order to maximize their own inheritance because they are afraid that I might get it and/or it's spent on care home fees. This isn't in my father's best interests. So please keep comments like "scrambling about for inheritance whilst he's still alive" to yourself. 

elsien

As you say, whether he goes into a care home or not is a best interests decision. If there is no power of attorney then family are not the decision makers, the professionals would be, in consultation with all relevant family members including yourself.  However keeping people at home for as long as possible is the lesser restrictive option and tends to be what people prefer, and familiar environments help people to maintain their independence for longer so unless there is a very good reason why care cannot be adequately provided at home then that would be the starting point. Inheritance or no inheritance.

I apologise for the phrase scrambling for inheritance however as your first post was very much focussed on inheritance as was the thread title, so that does lead to presumptions being made. Perhaps it would help if you were clearer about your concerns outside of any future financial gain. 
So just for the sake of clarity, are you aware of any health and welfare LPA or deputyship?

Original post, for reference:

1404 said:

My sibling and I are in our 40s. We are the product of our father's first marriage. Our father is in his 70s and is now sadly not going to recover from a brain condition which has left him in capacitated and in need of care. 

My father remarried more than 20 years ago and started a new family. Those two children are now young adults. 

Last year, at the time my father was taken ill, he was going through the process of a divorce from the second wife and had moved out of the house. What stage the divorce got to I am not sure (my understanding is that this is important information).

I've spent the last 20 years believing I'll never get inheritance as my father was remarried - and with two kids. I've never had an issue with that. But as he was in the process of getting divorced, does that mean I (and my full sibling) are now in line for inheritance?

The estate essentially consists of three houses, as far as I'm aware. It could be that his half of the estate is used to fund care. Or it could be that care is provided by his young adult child without the sale of a house. We are not sure yet. 

I am seeking legal advice but wondered in the meantime if anyone here has some knowledge of this area.

RAS

That explanation wasn't included in your original post. Nor is it clear given the new circumstances why you are enquiring about your possible inheritance rather than issues round your father's capacity? 

And whether it is appropriate for those with whom he had ended a personal relationship and was seeking end a legal relationship to have somehow ended up taking full charge of his personal and legal care.

Have you spoken to Age UK about the safeguarding risk and conflict of interest, or taken legal advice? Contacted the OPG and spoken to adult care social service where he lives? Did you ever talk to his care team before he was moved into his wife's residence?

elsien

@RAS I can't see where it says that the father has moved back in with the wife?

And all else being equal, it is no more a conflict the current adult children being involved in care and ongoing decisions than it is the OP?
Where there is a dispute and no LPA then it is up to the professionals to weigh up the conflicting views and reach a decision. 

1404

elsien said:

As you say, whether he goes into a care home or not is a best interests decision. If there is no power of attorney then family are not the decision makers, the professionals would be, in consultation with all relevant family members including yourself.  However keeping people at home for as long as possible is the lesser restrictive option and tends to be what people prefer, and familiar environments help people to maintain their independence for longer so unless there is a very good reason why care cannot be adequately provided at home then that would be the starting point. Inheritance or no inheritance.

I apologise for the phrase scrambling for inheritance however as your first post was very much focussed on inheritance as was the thread title, so that does lead to presumptions being made. Perhaps it would help if you were clearer about your concerns outside of any future financial gain. 
So just for the sake of clarity, are you aware of any health and welfare LPA or deputyship?

Original post, for reference:

1404 said:

My sibling and I are in our 40s. We are the product of our father's first marriage. Our father is in his 70s and is now sadly not going to recover from a brain condition which has left him in capacitated and in need of care. 

My father remarried more than 20 years ago and started a new family. Those two children are now young adults. 

Last year, at the time my father was taken ill, he was going through the process of a divorce from the second wife and had moved out of the house. What stage the divorce got to I am not sure (my understanding is that this is important information).

I've spent the last 20 years believing I'll never get inheritance as my father was remarried - and with two kids. I've never had an issue with that. But as he was in the process of getting divorced, does that mean I (and my full sibling) are now in line for inheritance?

The estate essentially consists of three houses, as far as I'm aware. It could be that his half of the estate is used to fund care. Or it could be that care is provided by his young adult child without the sale of a house. We are not sure yet. 

I am seeking legal advice but wondered in the meantime if anyone here has some knowledge of this area.

I'm only here to ask about the inheritance. I am in touch with Safeguarding and the medical professionals (having been excluded for months and kept in the dark by the "other side"). I'm now getting all the information I need on that side of things. I trust them to ensure my dad ends up in the right place - be that in a care home or with the "other side" at home (by that I mean the siblings, not the wife who doesn't even visit him anymore).

I am here asking what my inheritance status is because the other side have raised it with the professionals who have them approached me. 

My understanding is that unless I'm on the will then I'm due nothing. And therefore the other side should relax about it and not base any decisions based on keeping money from me. But I am wondering why the they are concerned. They are very young and perhaps they just don't know that I don't have a claim to it.

1404

elsien said:

@RAS I can't see where it says that the father has moved back in with the wife?

And all else being equal, it is no more a conflict the current adult children being involved in care and ongoing decisions than it is the OP?
Where there is a dispute and no LPA then it is up to the professionals to weigh up the conflicting views and reach a decision. 

The home care provided would be by the young sibling in a separate house they own (they own 3). The wife would not be the carer or in any way involved, as far as I'm aware. 

RAS

In which case the answer is, no-one can tell you until someone clarifies the situation with the divorce.

If dad is still married when he dies, then the estate is distributed as per his existing will, whatever that may be.

If the divorce is made absolute, then that element of the will leaving anything to his ex-wife fails and AFAIK becomes subject to the laws of intestacy, which means it would be shared by all his biological and adopted children. 

Without knowing what is in his will, there's way of knowing what the impact might be on your half siblings.

1404

RAS said:

In which case the answer is, no-one can tell you until someone clarifies the situation with the divorce.

If dad is still married when he dies, then the estate is distributed as per his existing will, whatever that may be.

If the divorce is made absolute, then that element of the will leaving anything to his ex-wife fails and AFAIK becomes subject to the laws of intestacy, which means it would be shared by all his biological and adopted children. 

Without knowing what is in his will, there's way of knowing what the impact might be on your half siblings.

The part of your post I've bolded would be my next guess. Someone within the situation should articulate that to the other side to stop them behaving in the way they are (the hospital staff deemed it necessary to speak to me about the subject of money. I had never spoken to them at all, let alone about money).