To be fighting about FIL's will

[Angelofod]

So my husband's father died last year rather unexpectedly. Anyway fast forward to sorting out his will and he has put in there that there is 10k to be split between his grandchildren. When he died we were expecting our first child, he already had 3 grandchildren from his eldest son, one of which has been adopted by another family and the other 2 are in care. I'm not saying they shouldn't get their share but do you think my child should too? FIL knew we were expecting and he was so excited to be having a grandchild he would actually see and be able to have a connection with! We were all utterly devastated when he passed. The only issue is the person sorting the will out doesn't think my child should receive anything as he wasn't born when the will was made or before his grandfather died. I just can't help but think FIL would have definitely wanted our child to have a share, the will still hasn't been sorted and my child has been born now and is still a grandchild.

[Lovewineandchocs]

It depends on the wording of the will, does it just say “to be divided equally between my grandchildren” or does it specify the other 3?

[Jimdandy]

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[AutumnCrow]

Have you seen the will?

[Lovewineandchocs]

If it says “my grandchildren” there is probably an argument that your DC existed in some form at the time of his death IYKWIM. If the person sorting out the will isn’t a solicitor it’s worth taking specialist legal advice, or maybe take it anyway if you aren’t confident in the executor even if they are a solicitor.

[Auntiepatricia]

Were you pregnant when he died? Then I think no. I don’t think the law considers your child to officially exist till it’s born. So bad luck there on timing.

[Angelofod]

I have seen the will and it just says to be divided by my grandchildren, it does not specify how many grandchildren as I guess when he made the Will he had no idea how many grandkids he might have at the time of his death. The executor is my BIL so not legally trained or anything.

[mrsm43s]

I think it would depend on the exact wording of the will, and on that basis, I think that you would need to take legal advice to clarify it.

[Angelofod]

I was heavily pregnant when he died

[AnneLovesGilbert]

I can completely see how you feel but when we made our wills which left our assets to my husband’s children, the lawyer who did it said if/when we had one together we had to include it as soon as it was born. It wouldn’t count until it was born.

“Grandchildren” doesn’t include named people obviously but your child wasn’t a legal entity at the time of his death.

[Onlyjoinedforthisthread]

At the time of death he has 3 grandchildren so that is that. Are you really that greedy? You seem more concerned about 2500 pounds than you do about the fact he died

[Auntiepatricia]

OP, if this really is only 10k ( so 2.5k for your child you want), and the other grandchildren have as desperate and disadvantaged situations as it seems then seriously, do you really need to go after this?

As I said your baby wasn’t born in time. You’d spend far more in court and cause a lot of family stress and pain to go after your cut with low likelihood of success. But I’m not a lawyer so ask for an opinion.

[Angelofod]

I see, it's a real shame as we know he would have liked ours to benefit too! We have had a bit of a falling out with my BIL as he just says as he's the executor he can interpret it any way he chooses and he's not getting lawyers involved at all .

[Auntiepatricia]

OP heavily pregnant is meaningless in this case. It’s no different to 1wk pg.

[PoohBearsHole]

Actually at the time of death he had 2 grandchildren and one expected. Unfortunately adoption makes the fourth grandchild no longer a grandchild unless specifically named.

[Auntiepatricia]

Your BIL doesn’t sound too kind or fair. But I’d let it go.

[Angelofod]

@Auntiepatricia it may seem like a pittance to some but 2.5k is a lot of money to us and it will be even more to my son when he is 18 and it has gained interest in a savings account.

[FilthyforFirth]

This seems quite grabby. You want to take money off of children in care? YABVU.

[Angelofod]

@PoohBear BIL is in contact and is getting money to the adopted grandchild

[AdoraBell]

Presumably the father of your child is FIL’s son. In which case, why should his child not be classed as one of the grandchildren?

[Singlenotsingle]

It's not worth falling out over it. It's not as though it's a huge amount and you could easily spend £2.5 on solicitors bills in no time at all.

[lyralalala]

You should take legal advice, but in that situation in my family it was interpreted legall as "my grandchildren alive when I died". Otherwise how long after his death should grandchildren count for? The estate would never be sorted.

A child who has been adopted doesn't inherit from their biological family though (another one that bit someone in our family) unless they are specifically named as their family is now their adopted family. Being in care shouldn't make a difference.

I'd find it highly unlikely that an unborn grandchild would inherit without a specific clause for it.

[Auntiepatricia]

It sounds like a lot when you think it is yours, so is painful to lose. But it simply wasn’t your child’s money.

This is the internet. Ask a real solicitor for advice as it might help you accept it if that’s what the solicitor also says. But if he says you have a chance, god I would like to see what would become of all the money and peoples stress levels to drag it through the court.

[Lovewineandchocs]

I see, it's a real shame as we know he would have liked ours to benefit too! We have had a bit of a falling out with my BIL as he just says as he's the executor he can interpret it any way he chooses and he's not getting lawyers involved at all

That doesn’t stop you getting independent legal advice if you want to, just to see where you stand.

[Auntiepatricia]

NOT like to see!!!! Sorry.