ceejay
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Post by ceejay on Dec 15, 2022 15:42:50 GMT
I realise that I am hogging the limelight...
If someone asks you to be an executor, it is worthwhile considering some of the tasks that lie ahead.
Google "IHT 400" and visit the gov.uk website. That is just one part of the application for probate!
If the estate is likely to include property or a trust, then you probably need to engage a solicitor.
MW
I'd agree with most of that, except that it really shouldn't be necessary to engage a solicitor just because there is property involved, apart from the narrow brief to act as conveyancing solicitor on the property sale. The rest of the process is straightforward, albeit time-consuming, and rewarding if either (a) you have a financial interest in seeing matters resolved favourably or (b) you have a personal interest in the testator.
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Post by mostlywrong on Dec 15, 2022 20:26:00 GMT
So basically the wife gets first dibs. I'm interested to see if a will must be made public. My brother had substantial wealth, unfortunately near the end of his life, his wife became very nasty and would not let any family see him I'm interested to see if he left his nephew's anything . Apologies if this has already been answered elsewhere. My understanding is that a will has to be fair and equitable to the spouse and children. If it isn't, then the will can be challenged in court with a fair chance of such a challenge succeeding.
Leaving your worldly possessions to Veronika from Vladivostok and cutting your wife and 10 children out of the estate is not acceptable. For some strange reason...
Two places you could search:
The London Gazette will show you if probate is in progress:
and:
The Probate website will show you if and when it was granted:
If probate has been granted, the will is public and you can purchase a copy via the website.
Now, as I outlined earlier, if the wife has:
Not done anything - Done the minimum
you might not find anything.
If everything (accounts, assets, mortgage, bills etc) was in joint names, she would not need probate to access those accounts.
At least, until she wanted to sell the house or re-mortgage.
Any insurance policy would be written in trust so it would pay out to her or the children and would not be tied up in the estate. You implied that your brother knew he was dying and he could have taken legal advice to prepare the ground.
If you really want to pry... you could try using the Land Registry to see who owns the property.
Two points:
- If the owner has switched on notifications, the owner will be told that someone has accessed the record.
- Your brother could have gifted the house to her (a spousal transfer so nil CGT) before his death, so it would have not been part of his estate.
MW
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Dec 16, 2022 8:39:22 GMT
My understanding is that a will has to be fair and equitable to the spouse and children. If it isn't, then the will can be challenged in court with a fair chance of such a challenge succeeding. Leaving your worldly possessions to Veronika from Vladivostok and cutting your wife and 10 children out of the estate is not acceptable. For some strange reason... I don't believe there's any such stipulation in English and Welsh law, or in Scottish law. Other jurisdictions do, but not here. The only exclusion is if there's a reasonable expectation that a dependent but disinherited person should have been provided for. www.daslaw.co.uk/blog/cutting-someone-out-of-your-will
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bernythedolt
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Post by bernythedolt on Dec 16, 2022 12:12:28 GMT
You could argue that I am wrong to use the expression "stiffs" as rigor mortis will no longer apply.
And I will point out that you knew what I was talking about!
And "they" are not about to complain...
MW
Indeed. Or, we could aspire to raise the tone a little, if only for the sake of their distraught widows/relatives reading this thread for advice in the future, at a highly sensitive time. You'll have to forgive me, but many of the older generation were brought up to respect the departed.
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mogish
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Post by mogish on Dec 16, 2022 12:18:45 GMT
Thanks so much for this info. I shall dig a bit deeper.
This will be u der Scottish law. Brother was married. No kids. He did make her power of attorney at the time which will now have expired with his death I believe. I find it hard to believe he wouldn't have left his nephews anything as he got on well with both. She also has history for underhand stuff. Apparently told a lawyer her brother had died when managing her mothers will.
We shall see what I can find. Thanks again.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Dec 16, 2022 12:27:44 GMT
He did make her power of attorney at the time which will now have expired with his death I believe. Yep. PoA allows somebody to act as if they were the person. Obvs, the person themselves cannot do anything when dead... The instant they draw their last breath, PoA expires. Dealing with the assets becomes the job of the executor. Perhaps. But could they credibly claim they were financially dependent on the deceased before he died? If not, there's little scope to claim the will was incorrect to leave them out.
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mogish
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Post by mogish on Dec 16, 2022 15:42:34 GMT
He did make her power of attorney at the time which will now have expired with his death I believe. Yep. PoA allows somebody to act as if they were the person. Obvs, the person themselves cannot do anything when dead... The instant they draw their last breath, PoA expires. Dealing with the assets becomes the job of the executor. Perhaps. But could they credibly claim they were financially dependent on the deceased before he died? If not, there's little scope to claim the will was incorrect to leave them out. I doubt they could claim they were finacially dependant, i would just like to see a copy of the will to prove he left nothing to nephews and 100% was left to his wife.who was the executor.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Dec 16, 2022 15:52:05 GMT
Ah, you think she's basically nicking their money?
If there was no will at all, then she'd be 100% beneficiary under intestacy rules... So if there WAS a will that left money to people she wanted to conveniently overlook, she could have simply "lost" it completely.
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keitha
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Post by keitha on Dec 16, 2022 16:44:54 GMT
Ah, you think she's basically nicking their money? If there was no will at all, then she'd be 100% beneficiary under intestacy rules... So if there WAS a will that left money to people she wanted to conveniently overlook, she could have simply "lost" it completely. Unless a copy was lodged with a solicitor. I saw a family will some years ago that left everything to the Local Hospital, when the death occurred the solicitor was consulted and said yes he'd drawn up a will that said that and he had been asked to make several minor amendments, but he'd never been given a signed copy, as such the estate was dealt with under intestacy rules.
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Post by bracknellboy on Dec 16, 2022 17:34:11 GMT
Thanks so much for this info. I shall dig a bit deeper. This will be u der Scottish law. Brother was married. No kids. He did make her power of attorney at the time which will now have expired with his death I believe. I find it hard to believe he wouldn't have left his nephews anything as he got on well with both. She also has history for underhand stuff. Apparently told a lawyer her brother had died when managing her mothers will. We shall see what I can find. Thanks again. yoiu obviously have your reasons for thinking otherwise. But it would not be that unusual I think for the estate to only pass to the spouse on first death. The most common form of spousal wills - I believe - are those that are mirror wills, and transfer the entire estate across to the spouse on first death, with the splitting of the estate only happening on second death. Ours certainly are. Of course there is kind of an assumption in this that both spouses have the same view as to how the estate should ultimately be passed down i.e. an expectation that the surviving partner is not going to change their will after first death and will honour the prior agreed wishes of their partner. Had he been gifting money to his nephews during the last years of life, and any other indication that he might have made an allowance for them in his will in the event of first death?
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