An inheritance one

[hopeishere]

Person A dies. They were married to B who died a long time ago. A and B had two children. B had two more from a previous marriage.

A leaves a house but no will. The house was B's originally and A moved into it.

Is it automatically divided between all children? Also one of B's kids is deceased but has two living kids. None of the children now speak to each other.

What happened when B died? Did A legally inherit the house in full?

A didn’t leave a will so everything of theirs becomes B’s.
Did B leave a will ? I believe you can check on line.
Hopefully they left it divided equally between all 4, and the kids of the deceased sibling get their parent’s share.

Ignore me , I e read it wrong !

I think it depends on the value of the house when B died. Under a certain amount it all automatically goes to the spouse, over that it would be split between spouse and DC. If it all goes to spouse it would then just be split between A’s kids and Bs wouldn’t get a look in. I assume as you’re posting you are the one due to be left out?

You need proper legal advice, my reasoning here is based on a law course I did that is now probably 25 years out of date.

I think the 2 children of A and B will technically be legally entitled to the house but should share it with the other 2 or their descendants. Are you sure B never wrote a will? It won't be legal but at least tell you what they wanted. How irresponsible of A.

You need to work it back from the first death. Assuming no will, have a look at the intestacy rules on gov.uk (if England & Wales). You'll also need to see how the property was held by A&B as to whether B automatically inherited it or not.

You will need to know whether A legally gained full ownership of the house when B died.

If A gained full legal ownership of the house, then when they died without leaving a will, the laws of intestacy will apply, probably meaning the children on B will inherit nothing.

If B left a will that only gave A the right to live in the house until they died, with instruction on what happens to it after that point, then the instructions in B's will should now kick into place.

All depends on the legal ownership of the house.

as to whether B automatically inherited it or not

B predeceased A.

I’m reading this as B died first, years ago. A has just died. If they are both intestate then A would have inherited the house automatically as the spouse so it will now pass to A’s children. The children of B only won’t get anything unless children of A&B share.

Not true. Anything in joint names goes to the survivor. After that, the survivor gets a certain chunk and the rest is divided between children etc.

I would think if B's estate passed to A upon their death, A's descendants inherit. B's kids miss out.

It will go to A and B’s joint DC.

Not B’s DC.

Hey OP.

I have experience with this but it was a decade ago so things may have changed.

If B owned a house and died without a will then his estate would be left to his NOK, which would be person A if they were married.

Did person A then apply for the house changing into their name? Or is it still in Bs name? If it's in As name and they have no will this will then be left to their NOK, which would be their biological children only. Bs children/grandchildren wouldn't get anything unless As decided to share with them.

If A didn't ever do the legalities then the same principle as above would apply it will just take longer as the two deaths would have to be processed, but as B pre-deceased A then the same rules would apply.

Hope this helps x

As next of kin A inherited house If A hasn't made a Will, it will pass to the surviving children of A.

One thing that could change this is if one of B's children/grandchildren still lived in A's house or received regular support from A, as they may have a claim that they were dependent on A.

Such a shame A and B didn't make Wills. Obviously A could still have changed after B died, but any desolicitor would have questioned tgeircwisgws

Did B have a Will? Everything will hinge upon this.

If no Will from B, and everything went to A, and now A has no Will, unfortunately everything will pass to A’s two children.

However if B had a Will stating that A could live in house until death, then most likely everything will now pass to all four children/grandchildren.

sorry pressed too soon

... any decent solicitor would have made a note as to why A was excluding B's family and that'd be extra evidence if a claim was made.

I was a legal and then probate secretary, so am sure this is correct.

As others said, it depends on the ownership of the house (if B left a will specifying this) but the likely answer is that it is divided between the joint kids only and B's kids are not entitled to anything.

If B died a long time ago then you would disregard that and look only at As assets at the time of death, surely? Because Bs assets would have gone through probate after their death and been distributed at the time would they not? So whatever B had had already been inherited by A or whoever many years ago, making it theirs and wiping the slate clean in terms of who's 'next' iyswim.

So if A had no will and assuming B left no will giving A lifetime interest and the house to Bs children after that for example then everything would go to As family wouldn't it?

This is correct

Pretty sure it goes to a's kids that's why my dad had to write a will as he got told once by the lawyer that if my mum died a second before my dad only the blood child would get anything unless he was being kind and split it himself.

It just goes to A's DCs.

This is why people with children from a previous relationship should be extremely cautious about remarrying. They basically disinherit their own dcs.

www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

Have a look here. It depends on where each individual was 'domiciled' (different from resident), and on when B died because (if domiciled in England) it is very likely that B's children were entitled to something on the first death.

BUT also important to know that wills (or the lack of them) dont cover everything. Anything owned jointly (house, bank accounts etc) passes to the survivor (again - rules may be different if this is not all England).

www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

Trying the link again

www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

3rd time lucky?