Who inherits what?
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Tom_Bradbury
Posts: 49 Forumite
Background - man has 3 children from former marriage. Re-married to woman who has 2 children from her former marriage. Man formally adopted one of her children but not the other (other 'child' was too old to do so). Man dies and there is no Will (apparently) so everything went directly to surviving (2nd) wife. She died six months later. Again, no Will. Her surviving children said their mother wanted to leave all the money to the grandchildren, but nothing written down or evidenced. Her two children have supposedly got probate but not evidenced. So, who inherits what?
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The only way to obtain probate if there is no will is to apply for letters of administration. Who ever applies has no discretion in who gets what. They have to follow the rules. You cansee who inherits by following this link.Tom_Bradbury wrote: »Background - man has 3 children from former marriage. Re-married to woman who has 2 children from her former marriage. Man formally adopted one of her children but not the other (other 'child' was too old to do so). Man dies and there is no Will (apparently) so everything went directly to surviving (2nd) wife. She died six months later. Again, no Will. Her surviving children said their mother wanted to leave all the money to the grandchildren, but nothing written down or evidenced. Her two children have supposedly got probate but not evidenced. So, who inherits what?
https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will
Note that and an adopted child inherits as a natural child would. The size of the estates determines who gets what.0 -
Note that I think the family need LofA for both deaths if the first estate was larger than the amount which passes to the wife.
And although there's no discretion, the family can agree to vary who gets what. The key thing is 'agree'.Signature removed for peace of mind0 -
Surely as the wife is the last to die then it goes to her children regardless of adoption & just her children. What she said she wanted is irrelevant unless she put it in writing. Of course if her children are in agreement then they could do a deed of variation. As the wife (& mother of the adopted child) inherited everything then the adoption is irrelevant as the adult child is inheriting from his mother not from his stepfather.
Apologies if I have misunderstood some family connection!0 -
It all depends on the size of the estates. The OP nee3ds to give a bit more detail.Surely as the wife is the last to die then it goes to her children regardless of adoption & just her children. What she said she wanted is irrelevant unless she put it in writing. Of course if her children are in agreement then they could do a deed of variation. As the wife (& mother of the adopted child) inherited everything then the adoption is irrelevant as the adult child is inheriting from his mother not from his stepfather.
Apologies if I have misunderstood some family connection!0 -
Yorkshireman99 wrote: »It all depends on the size of the estates. The OP nee3ds to give a bit more detail.
True I had overlooked this. So have I got this right? 250K from first death goes to wife with balance divided between the children - including the adopted one. Following her death the estate divided between her children & no-one else.0 -
Look at the link in post #2 for full details.True I had overlooked this. So have I got this right? 250K from first death goes to wife with balance divided between the children - including the adopted one. Following her death the estate divided between her children & no-one else.0 -
Also note that if there was property involved, then how that passed on the first death would depend on how it was held: as Tenants in Common or Joint Tenants. If it was a joint tenancy, then it will have passed to the wife outside the estate, so only if the remaining assets were more than £250K would anything have passed elsewhere on the first death.
This is a situation where legal advice may prove well worthwhile if there is any dispute ...Signature removed for peace of mind0 -
OK - so I was the OP so a bit more info and this is based on more information that has been gleamed by simply digging around...
Seems man took out equity release and the provider has charge on property, however, taking into account the current building valuation (which is under £250K) and the o/s balance on the equity release, there looks to be around £120K left for distribution to surviving relatives. Looking at Register Title, the property ownership appears to be 'Tenants-in-Common'.
So going back to original question - man died first. As property ownership was 'tenants-in-common' does that mean 50% of remaining equity goes to man's natural and adopted children, but wife held that in trust until she dies/died. For the remaining 50% that goes to wife. She can choose what she likes to do with her 50%, but with her now dead, the natural children (including the adopted one) can now realise their 50% share once house sold and equity release company repaid all their money.
There are no other assets of worth in the estate and all under £250K.0 -
On those values wife inherited the lot and only her children now inherit.
Tenants in common share would pass to her there's no trust over it.:heartpuls Daughter born January 2012 :heartpuls Son born February 2014 :heartpuls
Slimming World ~ trying to get back on the wagon...0 -
On those values wife inherited the lot and only her children now inherit.
Tenants in common share would pass to her there's no trust over it.
You're mistaking tenants in common with joint tenants (unless I'm misunderstanding your last sentence).
However as I think yorkshireman said earlier, it will depend on the value of the estate who gets what. The house may indeed still pass to the wife if the value of the entire estate is below the £250k limit.You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means - Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride0
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