problems with possible fraud of will .. please help

[TitsTingle]

Have been advised to post over her instead of chat. I have copied my post below.

Can anyone help me please?
My husband was kept from his father growing up and finally made contact almost four years ago.
They became very close he rang three times a day, they went to golf tournaments together and was a lovely father/son relationship.
About a year ago his dad rang and said his will had been changed to split equally between his partner and my husband. He repeated this a few times over the year.
Unfortunately about 8 weeks ago he became ill and went downhill rapidly he died about a fortnight ago.
Things have got very weird quickly. His partner will hardly answer phone calls. And my husbands uncle who he only met a week before his dad died has totally taken over.
He has had no say in the funeral arrangements he asked if a song could be played and was told they might fit it in.
Then his uncle rang and said he was the executor of the will and he only had one bank account with 14000 in and after the funeral was paid for they are saying it is 10000 for the funeral (we know that is highly unlikely) and the rest of the money is his partners.
We know he had two bank accounts and a pension.
My husband is under the impression his dad's bank account was accessed the day after his death which I didn't think you could do with out the will.
I am so upset not about the money just the fact that they are pushing him out for something he had no control over as a child.
His dad loved him so much and would want him to be looked after and he's not even offered a personal item from his stuff.
So can anyone advise how we find about a will and if they have been going into his accounts after his death what do we do?
TIA

[TitsTingle]

Bump

[ivykaty44]

If the uncle is executor then doesn't follow the will he can be in trouble. Asknthr uncle outright for the name of the solicitor and a copy if the will of his father, then explain ifvthis isn't forthcoming he will get it through the private office.

[TitsTingle]

He told my husband he was executor. We haven't seen a will it's really hard as they are basically strangers and a bit scary.
They are just not approachable at all.
The day after he died apparently the uncle took a load of paperwork from the house and said to husband I could have everything in this house if I wanted but I wouldn't do that.
So my thinking is they have destroyed the will and gone into the bank accounts after his death without going through the proper channels.
If I ring probate on Tuesday they should be able to tell me if a will has been handed in shouldn't they?
The only experience I have is of my uncles will and that went to the court and then the executor was rang and told he could share out as the will instructed.
This is all very secretive and strange.

[TitsTingle]

As an aside my father in law moved away from these people he had nothing to do with them even when he was diagnosed the only time they turned up was the day before he died.

[ivykaty44]

These people can't just raid a dead man's bank account, they can't just destroy a will either, as then the process would go through administration instead.

Just ask to see a copy if the will

[TitsTingle]

I know they can't but they accessed the bank account the day after he died without a death certificate.

We have asked to see the will but are just evasive.

[Pufflemum]

Was your father in law married to his partner? If not and he did not leave a Will then everything he owned would go to his next of kin who presumably would be your husband?
It's much more likely that he left a will splitting things between his partner and son and they have done as you suspect and removed the assets. Although if the money was in a joint account with his partner you would not have a claim to it. Did he own a house?

[ivykaty44]

How do you know these people accessed the bank account? This would leave the bank in a lot of trouble as it breaches rules and regulations.

[TitsTingle]

No not married no joint account either.
He also had a lot of money in a safe at home which has not been mentioned.
He died on a Sunday they admitted to taking out money for the next day they did not get the death certificate for a week.
His partner had access to the PIN number.
It's sounds like the easiest thing in the world to just approach them all but they appeared at the hospital mob handed when FIL was no longer conscious and have not really left the partner since. To us they are strangers and I think they are thinking that why should a stranger get a large chunk of money.
FIL partner is quite quiet and shy and I think she is also scared of them and I think they might of filled her head with a load of rubbish about everything going to DH as they were not married but FIL wrote the will to ensure this would not happen.

[Collaborate]

You can contact all the solicitors within a certain radius of where he lived and ask if anyone did a will for him.

[TitsTingle]

Thankyou am going to do that today.

[FishWithABicycle]

Do you have any information on the value of the whole actual estate? If there is an official investigation and they are prosecuted for a criminal offence then I think the public purse funds the prosecution but if you have to bring a private prosecution then the likelihood is that the whole estate will get used up with legal fees.

£10k for a funeral is perfectly possible especially if he was buried rather than cremated but even with cremation some coffins cost thousands.

[TitsTingle]

He recently sold his house with his ex partner and had the funds from that. Also a pension and redundancy money.
The funeral is 2 cars and a cremation my uncles was similar last year and that came to around 4K.

It's not the money it's the unfairness. He hasn't been given a keepsake of his father or included in any arrangements.

Little things like everyone getting a photo in a frame except for him.

I get it must be weird to them he is a stranger but his dad adored him.

It is like he is getting punished for things that he had no control over as a child.

If they would show him the will and be open and honest then fair enough if it is all
Left to his partner but it's the reluctance to do this which is really upsetting.

[Rangirl]

He needs to take proper legal advice as a matter of urgency
If the money was withdrawn before the Bank knew of the death them the bank are not at fault

As a solicitor I am not sure I would /could disclose if I had made axWill for someone

[Rangirl]

Sorry posted too soon I mean if someone just phoned up
If they weren't married then surely the will has to be produced at som point or the partner won't inherit
Assuming in England Differentt in Scotland
Difficult if she says he gave £ in safe to her or spent it


Bear in mind difference between civil and criminal law

If they emptied bank account post death and destroyed will that is criminal and they could be prosecuted but that won't get your DH the £
Would have to raise court action

To be honest I think this sort of thing happens fairly often and quite difficult to get the £ without at least an expensive court case
But he should tske advice

[Collaborate]

As a solicitor I am not sure I would /could disclose if I had made axWill for someone

I'm not sure that's correct. Certainly you will have to disclose the existence of a will to an executor. Also, what if the appointed executor refuses to act? Are you saying you'd refuse to disclose the existence of the will to an interested party such as a beneficiary?

[JustAnotherYellowBelly]

We're having problems sort of like this in our family.
One Executor was withdrawn as she was caught taking things from the house, another has no contact details for us (so fair enough) and the third is keeping the cards so close to his chest they're almost a tattoo.
We got around this by downloading the will from the probate service (cost £10) and this also showed the value of the estate etc.
Another thing would be if you could get a copy of the death certificate and your partner's birth certificate with his dad's name on - this would prove he was next of kin which would be easier to get information. Either that or get dad's partner to get something with DNA on and do a DNA test (doesn't cost as much as some people think).

[BitchyComment]

So your DH contacting them by phone or email? Can he ask some direct questions by email so that it's harder for the Uncle to be evasive?

[Rangirl]

To Collaborate I see where you are coming from I meant if someone just phoned me up and said Did you make a Will for Mr X

[Collaborate]

To Collaborate I see where you are coming from I meant if someone just phoned me up and said Did you make a Will for Mr X

In that case, yes, I see where you're coming from too(!).

Not being a probate lawyer I presume people produce a copy of the death certificate in such situations.