Not wanting an inheritance
Options
Tiina33
Posts: 29 Forumite
One of my neighbours has a poor relationship with her only son ( her only child) who is an adult and married. She said to me that I could inherit her house if she dies before me. I do not want to be dragged in to such a situation which would be sure to result in my having big problems down the line with her son, who would certainly take legal action by contesting such a will. Her son has a good job, as does his wife, and I am on benefits, but I would still prefer to be left out of the situation completely. If she were a relative of mine who had no other family, I would accept her house if she were to die before me, sell it and then live off the money instead of being on benefits, but I have no desire whatsoever to be embroiled in my neighbour's family problems. I have told her this and have said that she would be using me to 'get back' at her family, though she denied this. She cannot understand my position at all and keeps saying it would be like winning the lottery for me, which is absolute nonsense. It would be a legal nightmare. And if she did go ahead with her idea and then died before me and I were to refuse to inherit, than I would lose my benefits. If I accepted the house, I would also be left with nothing to live on while the legal battle drags on and on, as the house would be seen as mine even though I couldn t do anything at all with it. She sees me as incapable of knowing what my own best interests are and is also very pushy, so I am afraid she might go ahead with her plan even though I have told her how much I hate it. Can anyone help?
0
Comments
-
And if she did go ahead with her idea and then died before me and I were to refuse to inherit, than I would lose my benefits.
If I accepted the house, I would also be left with nothing to live on while the legal battle drags on and on, as the house would be seen as mine even though I couldn t do anything at all with it.
It would be a horrible position to be in but I don't think this would be the case - while the will was being contested, I don't think you would be counted as having inherited anything so your benefits would continue.0 -
I understand your reasons for not wanting to inherit.
I'm not sure if there would be any way to convince your neighbour not to leave you her house.
Provided she is of sound mind and has made it clear in her will that it should go to you, and has used a solicitor, has explained her intentions to that solicitor, and taken their advice in making the Will, it is unlikely that the son would have much luck contesting the Will without spending a fortune on legal fees.
Maybe you could find a solicitor locally to you who deals with wills and offers a free hour of advice and ask them how much "power" a solicitor might have to advise against bequests which could cause problems. They know the law around Wills, and will also have had a lot of experience of "where there's a Will there's a ………………………. feuding family". It might at least put your mind at rest.0 -
I am afraid she might go ahead with her plan even though I have told her how much I hate it. Can anyone help?
Suggest that she would be much better leaving the house to charity, and tell her that if her son contests the will you will be unable to defend the bequest so it will pass to her son anyway. If she leaves it to a charity (especially one of the major ones) they have legal departments dealing with legacies and will defend the bequest against a claim from the son.
Appeal to her vanity - she could have a cat shelter named after her, or something like that.
Also make sure she isn't intending on appointing you as executor. You can obviously refuse to act in the event, but it's further hassle you probably want to avoid in these circumstances.A kind word lasts a minute, a skelped erse is sair for a day.0 -
Which country are you in?
In England and Wales a son has no automatic right to an inheritance. He can contest the Will - so could I if I felt like wasting my money - but he may very well not win, especially as the poor relationship means he is presumably not being maintained.
I agree with the above posters about trying to make her see sense by leaving it to a charity.
However, if you fail to persuade her, it's not a disaster. Let's say the son does make a claim. If you wanted you could throw any letters you received about a court case in the bin and carry on as you are. One of two things can then happen. Either the judge eventually awards a default judgment against you, and the estate goes to the son, which means you've got what you wanted and your benefits are unaffected. (I am not sure this would happen, as even the beneficiary not turning up in court may not be enough to persuade a judge to overturn the Will in favour of a non-dependent son.) Losing a court case over a contested Will is not deliberate deprivation.
Or the judge does award part or all of the estate to you, in which case you take the money, use it to fund your current lifestyle, and then go back on means-tested benefits when it runs out. It's a shame that the money was effectively taxed away and didn't go to an animal charity or similar, but that was your friend's choice. On the positive side you get a few years (depending on how much there is) of not having to deal with benefits officers.
Your certainty may be misplaced; a lawyer may advise the son that he has no chance and he takes no action.
As others have said, your fear that your benefits would be stopped while the court case dragged on is not correct. Until the estate is distributed and the money is actually in your hands your benefits will be unaffected. The only two possibilities are 1) you don't get any inheritance and carry on as you are or 2) you do get an inheritance and spend that instead of benefits until it runs out.
As you would be comfortable with 1), you can relax about the possibility of any court action as it doesn't actually matter. The only people who will lose out are the hypothetical animal charity.
If you live in Scotland children do have a right to an inheritance, but all it affects is which scenario you end up in.0 -
I would urge her to see a solicitor to draw up a will leaving a token amount to her son, with a letter of wishes expressing why she has done what she has; this can be used as evidence if a will is disputed. The remainder of the estate could be left to her favourite charity or charities.
If she is adamant she wants to leave you something suggest a nominal figure eg under £6k
Mortgage started 2020, aiming to clear it in 2026.0 -
Malthusian wrote: »
If you live in Scotland children do have a right to an inheritance, but all it affects is which scenario you end up in.
The 'legal rights' in Scotland only extend to moveable property and not heritable property. Heritable property - i.e. buildings and land - can be willed away to anyone. Moveable property - i.e cash, chattels etc - come under legal rights. Basically, if you turn a house or boat or other building upside down, everything which falls to the floor is 'moveable'.
Another feature of legal rights is that it has to be claimed if it's not part of a will.0 -
One of my neighbours has a poor relationship with her only son ( her only child) who is an adult and married. She said to me that I could inherit her house if she dies before me. I do not want to be dragged in to such a situation which would be sure to result in my having big problems down the line with her son, who would certainly take legal action by contesting such a will. Her son has a good job, as does his wife, and I am on benefits, but I would still prefer to be left out of the situation completely. If she were a relative of mine who had no other family, I would accept her house if she were to die before me, sell it and then live off the money instead of being on benefits, but I have no desire whatsoever to be embroiled in my neighbour's family problems. I have told her this and have said that she would be using me to 'get back' at her family, though she denied this. She cannot understand my position at all and keeps saying it would be like winning the lottery for me, which is absolute nonsense. It would be a legal nightmare. And if she did go ahead with her idea and then died before me and I were to refuse to inherit, than I would lose my benefits. If I accepted the house, I would also be left with nothing to live on while the legal battle drags on and on, as the house would be seen as mine even though I couldn t do anything at all with it. She sees me as incapable of knowing what my own best interests are and is also very pushy, so I am afraid she might go ahead with her plan even though I have told her how much I hate it. Can anyone help?
If her son is her only child, why were you posting much the same thing about her daughter just a couple of weeks ago: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=76331552 You said in that post your neighbour had told you she was only joking, so for goodness calm down and stop getting yourself into a state over nothing.0 -
As everyone else says - use a solicitor to draft a will, leave house to a charity and I would say leave a fixed sum to you and her son. Solicitor to act as executor.::A0
-
If her son is her only child, why were you posting much the same thing about her daughter just a couple of weeks ago: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=76331552 You said in that post your neighbour had told you she was only joking, so for goodness calm down and stop getting yourself into a state over nothing.
It's 'interesting' how the responses have changed to to the gender of the child too.0 -
How odd!If her son is her only child, why were you posting much the same thing about her daughter just a couple of weeks ago: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=76331552 You said in that post your neighbour had told you she was only joking, so for goodness calm down and stop getting yourself into a state over nothing.
Yes, the OP of this thread did say her friend had said she was only joking about leaving the house to the OP:
Or has something changed again since the first thread was started on 30th September?I am on ESA and am in the support group with Asperger's Syndrome. A friend said to me several days ago that I can inherit her house if anything happens to her, instead of her daughter with whom she has a poor relationship. I got into a complete state about this as 1. I don't want to be dragged in to her family conflict and any possible legal challenge from her family if she passes on before me and 2.I already own my own house and a second house would mean my benefits would all stop. I sent her this information by Facebook in a personal message and she wrote back to say she had only been joking. I am very glad about this, but she also said her phone might have been hacked (she accesses Facebook on her phone). I am now worried that, if this has happened, that somehow the DWP might see my message and stop my money because I said that one reason I didn't want her house is so that my benefits wouldnt be cut. Would they see me as trying to deprive myself of assets which I don't even have by my writing that one reason I don't want her house is because it would affect my benefits? I in herited my home from my parents along with some money and I told the DWP at the time about this, so I am not dishonest.
OP?
Are you worrying about nothing?0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 343.5K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.9K Spending & Discounts
- 235.6K Work, Benefits & Business
- 608.6K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173.2K Life & Family
- 248.2K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards