Inheritance Rights Scotland

[wallsie164]

In my deceased mothers will I have inherited a small proportion of her house but have been excluded from any moveable estate. Can I exercise my legal rights to moveable estate (ie one fifth of a half) while also receiving the proportion of the heritable property. Solicitor has suggested to my sister (executor) that if I exercise my legal rights I forego the proportion of heritable property i.e. I can only claim one or the other.

I am one of 5 children and our father died a number of years ago leaving all heritable properties and one third of his moveable estate to my mum and two thirds of his moveable estate equally divided between 5 children. We were all on very good terms with my mother but her will is very different from my dads. My brother and I have been left only 1/16th of the heritable property each, and no moveable estate (one sister is allocated half of the moveable estate the other half being divided equally to other sister and other brother).

I wanted to know what my rights are before I appoach my siblings to see if things can be resolved more fairly.

[Rangirl]

You can only have your legal rights or what is in the Will,not both

[cdtaylornats]

Certain legal rights are protected

When a will aims to exclude a particular person from inheriting any of the deceased’s estate, the will aims to disinherit that person.
In Scotland it is not possible for a person to disinherit his or her spouse, civil partner or children entirely. This protection is provided by the concept of legal rights which give the people concerned a share of the deceased’s moveable property. Hence, the family home is excluded from the scope of legal rights.
Where there is a will, cohabitants are not protected from disinheritance.

[wallsie164]

Thanks cdtaylornats. I understand that I would have to relinquish any moveable estate legacy if I were to exercise legal rights, but do I also have to relinquish heritable estate legacy if I exercise my legal rights on the moveable estate?

[Musicaltheatremum]

My children were left a large sum by my husband when he died. But they were also entitled to a part of his moveable estate too. They relinquished their right to it though as I have to survive for anothe 30-40 years. :-)

[Rangirl]

Yes you can only have your legal rights claim or your inheritance under the Will even if under the will you have a claim to heritable property

[wallsie164]

Thanks for the information provided, it appears that my mum was attempting to disinherit myself and my brother for no reason that we can think of, hopefully my other sibblings will be reasonable as the estate is greater than £400k, otherwise it will only serve to split a family which has never had any fall out in the past.

[caroldecker]

It will only split the family if you and your brother want it to - you could choose not blame your mother's behaviour on your siblings.

[SueTrinder]

It will only split the family if you and your brother want it to - you could choose not blame your mother's behaviour on your siblings.

But she can blame their own behaviour on them. If my mother was to leave me all her estate I would split it up more evenly between my siblings (because how much of a kick in the teeth would it be to realise your parent didn't love you, I'd want to protect my siblings from that), and I'd encourage DH to do the same if his parents did it to one of his siblings (he agrees with me). So if a child inherits significantly more than their sibling and doesn't try to rectify it/complains about their sibling exerting their legal right then yes, that child has done something that could split a family.

[Rangirl]

I hope it can be resolved It does seem very unfair However in my experience most people take what their legal entitlement is using reasons like 'I must do the right thing by my children' or 'It's what Mum wanted' Is there any explanation that might help you understand why eg are you settled with a good job while your siblings are still at home

[GrouchyKiwi]

DH is a Scottish solicitor and he agrees that you have to choose one or the other (either your legal rights or the legacy).

If some siblings have been given gifts during your mother's life these may be factored in to a legal rights calculation. Children who claim legal rights (if more than one does) have to notionally pay back the gift for the purpose of the calculation (not actually repay, but it means your legal rights claim is worth less than it would be). So bear this in mind if you received gifts and others didn't.

[wallsie164]

No Rangirl there is no rational explanation all my sibblings, except one, have equally good jobs, mortgages paid off. All are married 3 of them have 2 children each, 2 of us have no children. The less fortunate sibbling has been given a larger share which I have no problem with at all as she did not have the same opportunities as the rest of us.
Thank you GrouchiKiwi I did not realise that past gifts could be factored in to a legal rights calculation, ironically it is 2 of the 3 sibblings who are inheriting the whole moveable estate that have been recipients of substantial monetary gifts, help buying a house, cars, debts cleared and loans that had not been paid off (the will stated that all debts were to be cancelled). At the end of the day it is not about the money its about 5 children being treated fairly as their dad (who generated the whole value of the estate as my mum never worked) had intended. As SueTrinder said, my sibblings have the opportunity to make this fair, I would prefer that I did not have to exercise my legal rights but have advised my sister if no change is made by them to make it fair, it will be my only option.