Would you want to know if family had cheated you out of an inheritance?

[CushionCover2]

For background my grandfather was very generous to me and my siblings, when he died I was late teens and my mum told me he died without a will therefore everything went to her and her brother, she gave me and my siblings about £1,000 each out of her inheritance. I don’t know the size of his estate but I’d estimate around £250k.

Today my uncle told me, as part of another story, that when he did probate for my grandfather they’d had to track down the witness to his will and it had been a bit difficult because they’d moved etc.

Later on I said offhandedly that I thought grandfather hadn’t left a will, did they find one in the end? And uncle denied there being a will and said they did probate without so I just left it and started talking about something else, but it got me thinking so I looked on the probate website and there is a probate certificate with will, I can pay £10 for a copy.

Should I request a copy and find out if I was supposed to inherit or leave it to keep good family relations? My mum has spent all the money so even if I was supposed to inherit I doubt there’s any money left to give me.

I'm in a similar situation and thinking of ordering a copy of the will. Would anyone find out if I did - would the executors or anyone be notified?

A couple of my friends have done this. You pay £10 and can view it for a set period of time. It takes a few days for it to come through.

I would, I'd need to know if my DM was lying and if so if there's a reason why. Having said that its more than possible your DM was lied to by your uncle, but the will may give you a clue as to why on that front too.

I'm another who would definitely order it as I'd be too curious not to. Maybe your uncle was hiding it from your mum - so she didn't lie, but he lied to her?

You should order it because you've automatically jumped to a negative conclusion and I don't think it's helpful to have that hanging over your relationship with your DM.

fwiw I think your DM probably told you the truth and that it's more likely that your uncle made a mistake and confused your grandfather's will with someone else's.

You can get an copy of any will for about £10 - Dh has done it more than once for family tree research. You download it once you've paid. Google copy of will - and make sure it's the proper govt. website.

Whoever is executor is obliged to carry out the deceased's wishes - they can't just decide for themselves.
I would def. want to know if a relative had diddled me out of an inheritance.

Yes you should have a look. Surely it will just play on your mind. You need to know if they are lying, and I'd bet they are and there must be a reason why.

The main problem, as I see it, is that we now all want to know about the will.

I know I was, there was nothing I could do about it so I said nothing.

I'm in a similar situation and thinking of ordering a copy of the will. Would anyone find out if I did - would the executors or anyone be notified?

No, a will is a public document. Anyone can order a copy.

Did she really really need the money? I’m not saying that if she screwed you over, that is ok. I just think you may be opening Pandora’s box.

I have never seen the Will, and don't want to.
It wouldn't change anything.

Yes you should get a copy of the will in order to see if your grandfather's wishes were carried.

But what if them keeping the will secrets is nothing to do with money? Maybe there was a bequeath to an illegitimate child that no one knew about until the will was read? Or maybe a mistress who was left something sentimental?

OP if I was you, id have to know, but don’t automatically assume you’ve been done over in some way, there’s probably thousands of reasons your mum and uncle could’ve wanted to hush up the existence of a will, maybe your GF wasn’t who he said he was at all?

@icelollycraving it all went on holidays and clothes, I think she paid for her car outright too, so no, there was no desperate need for cash.

You also need to know in context , a will may very well say "I leave X person my estate" but there might not be an estate, there may only be debts.

OP why do you think your DGPs estate was around 250K? He may well have been 'asset rich and cash poor' and done an equity release on his property, therefore the property defaults to the loan company. Just because people are outwardly generous, doesn't mean they actually are. So bear that in mind.

Aren't the executors supposed to make sure that the instructions in the will are carried out? So if you were left something and didn't get it you'd have a bone to pick with the executors. But in fairness, I expect that the grandfather left his estate to his two children.

I'd want to see the will though.

I don't think I could resist it. But, has your mother ever behaved in an unethical way before? In my case she hasn't, so I would more be wondering what it was about than thinking she stole money from me.

How long does it take to get a copy? (How soon before you can come back and tell us?!)

This happened in my family, we had a successful family business which was sold, uncle died, never married no children, no will. His sister (my aunt) told me there was no will, so it was going to be divided by 3 of his sibling.

There had been a massive falling out by the Family and the business prior to Uncles death.

We (myself & siblings) applied for a copy of probate, this gave us the information on the estate and who the solicitor was. We wrote to the Solicitor, asking if it had slipped my Aunts mind, they'd had another brother (our Dad) who was deceased, said brother had four children who were entitled to his share. Aunt had sworn an oath saying she was telling the truth regarding the succession, she's dead now I never saw her again and truly wish we had brought a private prosecution for fraud.

These people were the biggest catholics you could possibly find.

What badweek said. I would be surprised if someone left all their money to their gc rather than their children.

It is also possible that the will was invalid for some reason (not appropriately witnessed, for example) and so they did it without a will.

I was left a couple of thousand pounds in s will. My parents spent it on paying their mortgage etc as they were going through a difficult time. Years later they have more than paid back that money in childcare and gifts. In this case i was better off having a home for my family to live in.

@NewYearNewMe18 my estimate was based on how much money my mum told me she’d got, I assume uncle got the same if it was split in half. There definitely was money because I saw her spending it!

I'd be curious to know- once the seed of doubt is there, I guess it would niggle away.

It might change your relationship with your mother though.

My GPs left some specific inheritance to myself and my siblings, as DH's did with him and his siblings/cousins. Not massive amounts, and in my GM's case related to jewellery. The bulk of the estate went to the DPs/Aunts/Uncles. I didn't think it was that odd a thing to do, just GPs wanting to acknowledge their GC.

Another one saying Definitely check.