Help! Estranged father died intestate.

rsjg80

I have been contacted by my 'aunt' to inform me that my father has died without a will. I have not seen this man in 30 years. I am confident I am the only child and he wasn't currently married. I know very little otherwise. I am of the understanding, therefore, that I am the sole beneficiary. 

I highly doubt there is much of an estate, and the lady I was contacted by seemed to be at pains to make this clear. She seemed to want me to relinquish all rights and let them sort it and that any money remaining from the estate would go to the deceased man's father.

I am unsure what to do at this point. I have little interest in sorting the estate and would find this incredibly hard having not spoken to him in decades, not even sure of his birthday, address or anything useful. However, for my own reasons, I am not willing to completely relinquish my rights to any estate, however big or small that actually is. I also don't want to be taken advantage of by my estranged family when I have no idea of what is true.

I also do not want to find myself in a situation where I am out of pocket having been forced in to sorting what is, to me, a stranger's estate. He was also located on the opposite side of the country to me so there is a certain level of practicality as well.

What are my legal responsibilities in this matter? What can I do to facilitate a swift process? Is there anything I need to be wary of?

I do feel as if the lady who contacted me is trying to rush me in to decisions when this has all, obviously, taken me by surprise. I want to limit any contact with 'family' members as possible.

Any advice would be gratefully received, it is a lot to try to get my head round.

Marcon

rsjg80 said:

I have been contacted by my 'aunt' to inform me that my father has died without a will. I have not seen this man in 30 years. I am confident I am the only child and he wasn't currently married. I know very little otherwise. I am of the understanding, therefore, that I am the sole beneficiary. 

I highly doubt there is much of an estate, and the lady I was contacted by seemed to be at pains to make this clear. She seemed to want me to relinquish all rights and let them sort it and that any money remaining from the estate would go to the deceased man's father.

I am unsure what to do at this point. I have little interest in sorting the estate and would find this incredibly hard having not spoken to him in decades, not even sure of his birthday, address or anything useful. However, for my own reasons, I am not willing to completely relinquish my rights to any estate, however big or small that actually is. I also don't want to be taken advantage of by my estranged family when I have no idea of what is true.

I also do not want to find myself in a situation where I am out of pocket having been forced in to sorting what is, to me, a stranger's estate. He was also located on the opposite side of the country to me so there is a certain level of practicality as well.

What are my legal responsibilities in this matter? What can I do to facilitate a swift process? Is there anything I need to be wary of?

I do feel as if the lady who contacted me is trying to rush me in to decisions when this has all, obviously, taken me by surprise. I want to limit any contact with 'family' members as possible.

Any advice would be gratefully received, it is a lot to try to get my head round.

You have no legal responsibilities - unless you decide to apply for letters of administration, in which case you are then on the hook to see the job through.

If you are the sole beneficiary, it's hard to see why anyone else would apply to carry out the role if you decline to do so, in which case you may never know if there was anything to inherit.

Only you can decide what you actually want the outcome to be.

Flugelhorn

you don't have to do anything - I don't however think you should give up your rights without more information about the estate 

Olinda99

you have two options

1. walk away, do.nothing

2. apply for letters of administration and wind up the estate as executor

With option 2 you will at least also find out a little bit more about your father which you may or may not want but in later years you may regret not knowing more about him

FlorayG

rsjg80 said:

I highly doubt there is much of an estate, and the lady I was contacted by seemed to be at pains to make this clear. She seemed to want me to relinquish all rights and let them sort it and that any money remaining from the estate would go to the deceased man's father.

I do feel as if the lady who contacted me is trying to rush me in to decisions when this has all, obviously, taken me by surprise. I want to limit any contact with 'family' members as possible.

I would be wary of this. If you've had no contact for 30 years how do you have any idea what his estate is worth? Sounds to me like there could be something worth having that they are trying to get you to relinquish. I think it's worth you spending a little money on seeing a solicitor to find out your best course of action here

Sea_Shell

That's a tough one.   

I would be very wary of their desire to get you to relinquish any rights.   This sounds like there is something to be relinquished.

Or it could just as easily be an insolvent estate with mountains of debt, but then why would they be so keen for you to relinquish any claim. 

hmmm.    tricky.

As others have said, you are under no legal obligations to deal with this, unless you choose to, so doing nothing for the time being may be prudent.  See how it goes.

At least that way, you're no worse off.        

FlorayG

I'm wondering now how an estate is dealt with if nobody wants to do it. I think the value only goes to the Crown if there is nobody entitled to inherit
I'm reminded of many years ago someone at work inheriting two hotels in Blackpool from an uncle he hadn't seen since he was a child. He was the sole surviving relative so someone, somehow had tracked him down

Flugelhorn

FlorayG said:

I'm wondering now how an estate is dealt with if nobody wants to do it. I think the value only goes to the Crown if there is nobody entitled to inherit
I'm reminded of many years ago someone at work inheriting two hotels in Blackpool from an uncle he hadn't seen since he was a child. He was the sole surviving relative so someone, somehow had tracked him down

I suppose if there is some value in the estate eg the hotels, then they only have to engage a probate solicitor to handle it all (at cost ) - they will still be better off than if they had done nothing 

Flugelhorn

Sea_Shell said:

That's a tough one.   

I would be very wary of their desire to get you to relinquish any rights.   This sounds like there is something to be relinquished.

Or it could just as easily be an insolvent estate with mountains of debt, but then why would they be so keen for you to relinquish any claim. 

hmmm.    tricky.

As others have said, you are under no legal obligations to deal with this, unless you choose to, so doing nothing for the time being may be prudent.  See how it goes.

At least that way, you're no worse off.        

I agree - as it stands they can't do anything if you don't relinquish as it would need a DoV from you. take your time and get some more information. 

elsien

You don’t have to administer the estate, but declining to administer it doesn’t mean that any money goes elsewhere. The rules are intestacy have to be followed whoever administers it. They can’t just unilaterally decided to ignore the law and give them money elsewhere. Although who is to question that if there are no checks and balances?

Curious as to why you put the words “aunt” in brackets. Is she a genuine relative or not?
Personally  as someone estranged from my own father, I would walk away. I didn’t need his money when he was alive and I don’t need it now. But each to their own.

Keep_pedalling

Are you in contact with your paternal grandfather?