Legal question

[Moonshot]

Thought I would throw this into the general forum and see what replies I get.

3 years ago my father passed away leaving his estate to his second wife.....i was a product from his first marriage along with my sister. His second wife has 2 children from her own first marriage.

Sadly my fathers spouse has also passed away.....am i right in saying that the estate now passes to all 4 children?

 

[DarloRich]

Thought I would throw this into the general forum and see what replies I get.

3 years ago my father passed away leaving his estate to his second wife.....i was a product from his first marriage along with my sister. His second wife has 2 children from her own first marriage.

Sadly my fathers spouse has also passed away.....am i right in saying that the estate now passes to all 4 children?

Assuming the people are resident in England and Wales. Is there a will now? Was there a will then? Are relations between all parties good?

(standard response: seek the advice of a qualified legal professional)

 

[Moonshot]

Assuming the people are resident in England and Wales. Is there a will now? Was there a will then? Are relations between all parties good?

(standard response: seek the advice of a qualified legal professional)

No wills as far as I am aware, and no relations are not good. Will seek legal advice at some point, but as I am clueless about legal matters, I thought I would get some opinion from some on here who are no doubt better informed than i am.

all parties are english residents

 

[Barn]

I think I understand the facts as:

- three years ago your father sadly died;
- his estate passed to his second wife; (*)
- she received that estate but has now sadly died herself.

If the above is correct then my instinct is that the estate will pass in accordance with her will or, if she does not have one, in accordance with intestacy rules as they apply to her. Neither of these are likely to deliver any assets to your or your sister, I'm afraid.

(*) If your father died without a will, to understand what should have happened to his estate, we'd need to understand its approximate value and whether he died before or after October 2014. If it was a large estate (over £250k) then his second wife should not necessarily have inherited it all.

 

[ainsworth74]

Hmm I suspect this could get tricky legally as I think (but usual I am not a lawyer disclaimer applies so seek professional advice) that as you and your sister are step-children of the deceased then I think under the rules of intestate (someone without a will) you have no right to inherit anything as it's only direct descendants which appears to be mean by blood rather than marriage.

It does appear that you can alter the above using a Deed of Family Arrangement/Variation to allow for people who wouldn't otherwise be allowed to inherit to be granted something out of the estate but that would seem to require everyone involved to agree (as well as professional legal advice/support).

 

[Moonshot]

Hmm I suspect this could get tricky legally as I think (but usual I am not a lawyer disclaimer applies so seek professional advice) that as you and your sister are step-children of the deceased then I think under the rules of intestate (someone without a will) you have no right to inherit anything as it's only direct descendants which appears to be mean by blood rather than marriage.

It does appear that you can alter the above using a Deed of Family Arrangement/Variation to allow for people who wouldn't otherwise be allowed to inherit to be granted something out of the estate but that would seem to require everyone involved to agree (as well as professional legal advice/support).

I was sort of thinking along those lines.....however the estate has been created by a combination of both my biological father and his spouse (my stepmother ).

 

[deltic]

Barn has made the critical point. When my mother in law died without a will the estate was by law split 50:50 between her husband and the children. You need to seek legal advice especially if relations between surviving family members is not good.

 

[ainsworth74]

I was sort of thinking along those lines.....however the estate has been created by a combination of both my biological father and his spouse (my stepmother ).

Not sure that it matters as the deaths were several years apart.

 

[Barn]

Not sure that it matters as the deaths were several years apart.

Correct - if the second wife became entitled to the estate absolutely (*), then it is now her estate and Moonshot and his sister are unlikely to have a claim on it.

(*) To answer this, we'd need to know the date of Moonshot's father's passing, confirmation there was no will, which part of the UK he was resident in, and the approximate value of his estate.

(Won't keep repeating it every post, but obviously don't rely on a railway forum for any form of definitive advice!)

 

[Moonshot]

Correct - if the second wife became entitled to the estate absolutely (*), then it is now her estate and Moonshot and his sister are unlikely to have a claim on it.

(*) To answer this, we'd need to know the date of Moonshot's father's passing, confirmation there was no will, which part of the UK he was resident in, and the approximate value of his estate.

(Won't keep repeating it every post, but obviously don't rely on a railway forum for any form of definitive advice!)

2013 for death of father who was resident in england. Had no will

Thanks for your post above by the way

 

[Moonshot]

Hmm I suspect this could get tricky legally as I think (but usual I am not a lawyer disclaimer applies so seek professional advice) that as you and your sister are step-children of the deceased then I think under the rules of intestate (someone without a will) you have no right to inherit anything as it's only direct descendants which appears to be mean by blood rather than marriage.

It does appear that you can alter the above using a Deed of Family Arrangement/Variation to allow for people who wouldn't otherwise be allowed to inherit to be granted something out of the estate but that would seem to require everyone involved to agree (as well as professional legal advice/support).

that is a very good reply.....and has literally just opened my eyes to that possibilty....nice one. Just shows you that sometimes its a good idea to throw threads like this into the general discussion forum.

 

[Barn]

If your father died in 2013 without a will, then his second wife would have been entitled to:

- all personal chattels (basically physical items, including cars but not including money, shares, land, etc); and

- the first £250,000 of the rest of the estate value.

Any remaining estate value (if any) is split into two halves.

Half of that goes to your father's children (i.e. you and your sister). The other half stays with the second wife for her life and then goes to you and your sister.

(NB: This is no longer the same today.)

So, if your father had a large estate, and you didn't receive anything from the administrators of that estate, you need to take professional advice about what you can do about it. But you need to be careful about how you value the house for this purpose, particularly if it was owned together with another person.