Answer:

Question: can I get my inheritance early?

Answer:

Question: we married after the Will was made

My husband died in August 2006 leaving everything to me in his Will which he made before we married.  When we married he forgot to change my surname to my married name.  My christian and middle names are on the will but unfortunately it is still under my maiden name.  My husband's accountant has been dealing with the solicitor but nothing seems to be getting done.  The solicitors seems to be giving excuses.  One of the things said was that the Will was invalid and could be revoked.  Could this be the case? 

Answer: NO WILL

Absolutely, he left no Will, it was cancelled when you married UNLESS it was made specifically with the marriage in mind.  You will probably only inherit a proportion of his estate, I am afraid, depending on his assets, how they were owned, and whether he had children.

Letting your husbands accountant deal with the solicitor means you are paying twice for every chase.  Deal with the solicitor direct unless accounting information is needed.

You may need to consider a Deed of Variation, but this can only occur if none of the legal beneficiaries objects.

For your own peace of mind you need to get this sorted, and I am staggered at the treatment you have received so far in a simple (on the face of it) case.

Unfortunately, very few people provide the vital ongoing service for Wills which we do, which would probably have saved your bacon.

Good luck!

Hopefully you can help with the following....

My father died in feb 2007 and we have been granted probate but the solicitor who is the co executor along with my sister will not release any monies to us until 6 months have passed to make sure no one comes out of the woodwork to claim against the estate. What happens to the money the solicitor is holding for those 6 months? Will it accrue interest and if so at what rate? Is there any way we can get the money released to us sooner?

Please help as our solicitor dealing with this is from a small town and seems to be moving at a snails pace and I live abroad so cannot easily get in touch with them to speed things along!

The solicitor is protecting himself against any potential claims under the Family and Dependents Act 1975 - dependents might come out of the woodwork and claim that they had some sort of right to maintenance from your fathers estate.  However unlikely, there could be (for example) a mistress with 6 little children, who would be perfectly entitled to claim.

If one did, and the solicitor, as executor, had paid everything out, he could be personally liable for any shortfall.  You can see why he is being cautious!

The other thing he has to wait for is a two month period from the time notices have been published in the local paper and the London Gazette, asking any creditors to make their demands known - once again, the executor could be personally liable for any shortfall if he pays everything out and cannot recover it.

The only crumb of comfort is that the solicitor is under a duty to use the funds profitably, so they should be in a deposit account, accruing modest additional benefits for the residuary beneficiary.

Any attempt on your part to speed things along is likely to result in additional costs for every contact!

Some solicitors would take a view and pay out part of the estate, but the result of doing that and then a new and contradictory Will being found (or the discovery of hitherto unknown minor children) could result in the executor paying out the inheritances from his own

I am one of eight beneficiaries under my late auntie's will and there is a solicitor who is the executor.  She died last August and although we are aware her has was sold and completed on 3rd May of this year and all other things sorted we cannot get a proper answer as to what is happening and why there is a delay in paying out everyone.  We are all quite happy to wait until everything is right but cannot understand why we have only received one letter telling us we were beneficiaries and nothing else since her death.  Can you please tell us how we go about getting some answers as my cousin tries by telephone and email and either the solicitor is busy or other excuses are given.  Can you tell us our rights. 

You have the right to put up the solicitors fees dramatically by asking lots of questions!

I once had an issue with one, who refused to return calls but charged me £6 (and this was a LONG time ago)

every time I rang up and complained to his receptionist.  Let's say it is £20 today, and 8 beneficiaries have

enquired 3 times each then 8 x 3 x 20 = £480 + VAT which they won't be inheriting!

Only one of you should deal with him, and should send a nice polite letter requesting an update on behalf

of the other beneficiaries, as some are getting so concerned that they are talking about going to the Law

Society to make a complaint.  There may well be a perfectly valid reason.

The trouble with banks and solicitors being sole executors are that they are TOTALLY in charge, and it

is next to impossible to remove them without paying their full fee (even if the do no work at all).  This is

why we recommend the SWW Trust Corporation as they guarantee to stand down if all the beneficiaries ask

them to, charging only for time spent.  At the moment their hourly rate is £120, whereas solicitors average

something like £160 (both plus VAT)

If the executor is no longer around, and I guess that being struck off amounts to that, then the residuary beneficiaries will have the right to apply for a Grant of Letters of Administration with Will annexed.  The non existence of the solicitor and his firm may well need to be evidenced by documentation before the Court will issue the grant.  I would think client will need to apply to the Law Society when the need arises.

This all assumes that the testator does not have testamentary capacity which is not a foregone conclusion even if the EPA has been registered.  It goes without saying that to prove capacity may require a medical report if the power has been registered and certainly the doctor should witness the will. This is likely to be an uphill struggle but do not overlook the power of the court to write a will for someone who lacks capacity.

SWW Trust Corporation www.SWWTrust.co.uk 
Eagle House Exchange Road Lincoln LN6 3JZ
Tel: 01522 687888

If there was a Will, then that is likely to decide the distribution, unless  anyone who has a right to some form of maintenace has been left out and a claim made.

If there was no Will, then all natural or adopted children would share equally. It is an interesting point that if any of your siblings had been adopted by another family, they would have lost all rights to your fathers estate.  It is also possible for the Courts to effectively amend the Rules of Intestacy where one or more children are entitled to maintenance, but this must be through Court action.

The first born has exactly the same rights as the rest in the UK.

Under the Provision for Family and Dependants Act 1975 there is likely to be some entitlement to maintenance whilst your daughter is under 18 or in full time education.  You would have to sue his executors for this. Your situation would depend on the divorce settlement.

Ideally he would have some life insurance in place to cover the liability or both "families" would suffer.

Any old Will will be cancelled by the marriage, unless it was specifically made with the marriage in mind.

I do not believe that the Army would assist the daughter directly, the benefits would go to the widow.  I am sure their website would reveal a little more detail.

This is a little beyond our scope, but I hope is helpful.   Have you made sure your own legal planning is up to date - your daughter is in a vulnerable position, as are you.

My brother lives at my parents house, doesn't work by choice and doesn't sign on by choice, my mother has said that she wants him to have their house upon their death as I am married and have a house (on a mortgage and still paying), as yet I don't think there is a will, how do I stand if they die without a will, can I force him to sell and get my natural inheritance and in the event of a a will clearly giving him the house can I appeal.

If there is no Will and you mothers wishes become irrelevant: 

If there is a Will, and it does as you say, assuming you are not in any way financially dependent on your mother and she is sane, there is not much you can do.   If you are helping your mother financially, their is a doctrine called "estoppel" which could mean that you accrue a share provided you can prove your contributions.

I am assuming the house is in her name only.

If she dies without a Will, then the Rules of Intestacy will apply and one would expect that you and your brother would share the inheritance.  At that point you could ask your brother to pay rent on your half of the house, or take him to Court in an attempt to force a sale. It is likely that you would succeed unless there are children involved, in which case the Courts might compromise in some way - but that is beyond our scope to answer here.

Once you have inherited it, you can give it to your daughter, but if you die within 7 years it will be liable to Inheritance Tax.  If your health is good, you could insure the extra tax by way of a life policy.  However, a Deed of Variation would probably be cheaper.

The point of a Deed of Variation is that the gift comes from your wife and not from you, so it would not be liable to additional IHT.

If you and your wife did not have IHT saving Wills, this issue could be rectified at the same time.  This would be well worthwhile if your combined estates were significantly in excess of £300,000.

We recommend the SWW Trust Corporation on 01522 687 888 option 2 if you would like to contact them.

I have a house nearby that I am interested in. It has been empty for the past 15 years. The owner died and having no family that I am aware of the estate was handled by a solicitor.

How would I go about expressing an interest in the property with a view to purchasing it?

My question is my mother who is a widow is

leaving her property to me and my brother, there being no other siblings and my brother will be in living in the property looking after my mother. If he refuses to sell how do I get my

share of the property?

This will depend on the terms of the Will.

If your mother wishes your brother to remain in the property for his lifetime, she will need to have the Will appropriately drafted.  If she does not do so, you are quite within your rights to take your brother to Court and request an order for sale -for which you would probably wish to take advice from a local solicitor.  You may find one on www.Findapro.co.uk

What if there is sole executor for two wills made by siblings. And the executor only takes probate of one of the wills but not the other siblings. Is he bound to take both wills on?

No executor can be forced to act - it can be a heavy responsibility.

If they do not act, the near relatives can apply to act or appoint a professional to do the work.

Having a sole executor is never ideal, in case they are unable to act. 

We suggest 2 family members plus (as reserve) SWW Trust Corporation, who can also provide advice where needed by the family executors.  Their fees are typically 40% less than solicitors or banks as they are specialists with the latest technology.

My father issued all four of his daughters with a Will clearly stating that when he dies,everything goes to his wife and when my mother dies everything left has to be split 4 ways equally between his daughters. BOTH SIGNATURES ARE ON THE WILL.

My father died in 1992 then my mother in 2003.

All four Signatures were signed at the bank to release what money was left. My elder sister who was made executor to the Will came to a verbal agreement to place the money we had just released from the bank into a high interest account in her name leaving it to grow for a short while then it would be split 4 ways ........within 2 years time.

At the time of my mothers death myself and the executor to the Will (my elder sister) just haven't got on due to disagreements in the past.

Since this verbal agreement made in 2003 the executor was supposed to get in touch with me by 2005 and I haven't heard from her since but do know she was thinking of moving to Australia to live near my other sister two years after my mothers death.

Is the Will that I still have signed by both parents not worth the paper its written on due to the verbal agreement I reluctantly made?..........and does leaving the country make my chances of claiming what's legally mine ZERO?

1) When you say both signatures were on the Will, I assume you mean your mothers and your fathers signatures?  The chances are this would have disinherited your mother!  Were their any witnesses? How many?  If it was used, you will be able to obtain a copy from the Probate Registry.

2) Did your mother leave a Will? Or was she relying on the first one, which would no longer have been valid?

3) The chances are you would have been entitled to something under the Rules of Intestacy.

4)  There are tracing companies who would find your sister if you cannot, but whether it would prove worthwhile is another matter - it depends on the amount of money involved.

I appreciate this is not much help, but the idea is to answer fairly straightforward questions, I am afraid!

Steve

Please could you tell me how and when a person is informed that they are a beneficiary of a Will? I was told  a few years ago by an uncle that he was leaving me "a little something"( - most probably  a wedding ring belonging to my Grandmother) in his Will. He passed away 8 months ago and  I wondered what the procedure was. It may be that he changed his wishes before his death and I may not now be mentioned, is there a time limit for the Executors to contact beneficiaries?

Answer: how to find out what you have inherited - if anything

It is up to the executors to inform you, assuming the Will has been found (which is why we set up the www.WillCustodian.co.uk service).

If you know who they are, just ask.  However, a Will becomes public property once it is registered with the Probate Registry, so it would be possible to enquire at any Probate Registry with details of date of birth, death, full name and address at time of death and obtain a copy of the Will (for a fee) if and when it is registered.

Very often, these minor wishes are never actually formalised, or the item which has been left "my Rolls Royce car" has been swapped for the latest Aston Martin, then you inherit - nothing, as you were left a Rolls Royce, not an Aston Martin.  Had you been left "any car I might own at my death" you would have inherited the entire collection!

If your grandmother emigrated to New Zealand, took up NZ citizenship and sold everything in the UK with the intention of never returning, she will be governed by New Zealand Law,  of which I have no knowledge, as her "domicile" will have become New Zealand. You would need to find out if their was a Will.  Ask the NZ Embassy how to proceed.  For information on domicile, see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cto/customerguide/page20.htm

Did your grandmother leave a Will? 

If so, that will almost certainly decide who inherits.  You can enquire at the local Probate Registry and if you have full details of date of birth, death and address they can do a search to see if anyone has registered a request to action a Will, though nothing may show up for some months.

If she died "intestate" - that is, without a Will, then in the UK there is a strict line of succession starting with any children who are alive, so if the relevant parent is alive the parent will inherit. If not, then, their children (i.e. you) would normally share their inheritance.

Hi my dad died a few days ago without making a will. He was divorced from mother a long time ago and has been living with someone for the past 10 years but never remarried. I am one of 4 children and when we started to talk about the funeral his partner kept on saying there was no money in the estate and that he has no bank accounts. Is there any way we can find out if this is true? as we are to believe that have recently brought another house. I hope you can help. 

What is the most tax efficient way to minimise CGT liability when disposing of shares held in the estate of a deceased person?

If a personal representative/executor sells shares and realises a gain up to the CGT free threshold are they or the beneficiary/beneficiaries liable to CGT on the cash from this sale?