Inheritance Advice

Chubby_Bunny

A relative passed away last year and as part of his will he left a percentage of his estate to my father, it states in his will that if my father passed away whilst my other relative was still alive then my father's share was then passed on to me. My relative ended up passing away a few days before my father did so what happens to my fathers share of the estate now? 

Keep_pedalling

It will be distributed as per the terms of your father’s will as part of his estate. If he did not have one it will be distributed along with the rest of his estate under the laws of intestacy. Was your father married at the time of his death? Do you have any siblings?

RAS

We can't read the will. Did it require your dad to survive by a specified time etc. 

Can you quote the section, minus names?

Chubby_Bunny

There is no time frame stipulated in the will it just says that of my Brother shall die in my lifetime then his share of my residuary estate shall go to his daughter which is me. There's no mention of his share going to anyone else, his wife or any other relative is mentioned in his will. 

Keep_pedalling

Chubby_Bunny said:

There is no time frame stipulated in the will it just says that of my Brother shall die in my lifetime then his share of my residuary estate shall go to his daughter which is me. There's no mention of his share going to anyone else, his wife or any other relative is mentioned in his will. 

As your father died after his brother the bequest now forms part of your father’s estate. Did your father make a will? what was his marital status? Are you his only child?

Chubby_Bunny

He is married but his wife doesn't speak to anyone of us and has refused to inform us he he made a new will whilst he was married to her. He had an old will but as far as we are aware she has emptied his bank accounts, and claimed his work pension and put his house up for sale. She is refusing to communicate with family and has blocked all of us on her phone. So we have no idea if he had a new will or not unfortunately.

Keep_pedalling

If that old will was made before he married her it would no longer be valid. Who is the executor for your uncle’s estate? 

Keep_pedalling

The fact that she has his house up for sale suggests one of two things have happened. She has applied for probate / letters of administration and has obtained it already. The house was transferred into joint ownership before he died so she can sell without probate.

Check the land registry to check who the current owners are 

https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

Check with the probate office to see if it has been granted. If it has been you will be able to get a copy of the will if he had one.

https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/

Chubby_Bunny

His brother my other uncle but he's refusing to discuss anything with anyone, sadly since his brother and my father passed his been extremely nasty to myself and my children for no reason and has been saying very hurtful things and throwing allsorts of accusations towards us so I've just been keeping quiet as losing both father and uncle within 3 days of each other has been extremely difficult and has taken a massive toll on my mental healthas i qas extremelyclose to my uncle thst passed. I've tried being polite and asked the solicitors dealing with my uncles estate a few questions and apparently he's told them not to give me any information at all as he said I have no right to know anything and he is now trying to get me removed as a beneficiary as he isn't happy I'm being left anything in the will. He has told everyone else that is named in the will that they are a beneficiary but he has left myself and my children out. We only found out that we were in the will by the second executor messaging me to say that the solicitors wanted us to take in identification, he has now told the other executor not to inform us of anything and if they do he will get them removed. So I'm not really sure what to do anymore as I can't afford a solicitor to get any advice. 

RAS

Have you done the probate search suggested above? If the will has been proved, then it will show up.

It's always possible that your uncle had joint accounts with his wife, a joint tenancy with her as well, so there is little or no money in the estate.

Legally, your uncle is correct, as a beneficiary you are not entitled to information about the probate situation. You can expect to receive your inheritance and to see the will once publicly available. Otherwise, not even a copy of the estate accounts.

Chubby_Bunny

There's nothing on probate for my dad and it's my uncles will that I was seeking advice on, my uncle and dad passed within 3 days of each other. From what the will states I was due to receive my dad's shares if he passed before my uncle so I just wanted to check as the executor who has been an executor for them both is another family member who never followed my dad's wishes with regards to his funeral etc. And after his behaviour and dishonesty about lots of things he just can't be trusted to carry out things in an honest way. The will is now public but he's still insisting I'm not getting anything and will go against what is in the will as he reckons it's up to him who gets what.