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.

Yes I changed my name after doing this thread as I thought I was done with it and i dont want it effecting future advice as everyone seems to think im a terrible human. I'm a sleep deprived parent and forgot when I wrote my last reply

Tbf you're assuming what your fil wanted. Maybe he completely intended the money to go to his gc, regardless as to whether 1 had been adopted. BIL for the first time ever (by the sounds of it) is putting his children first. Maybe you're being a bit grabby. Try being diplomatic and talk to BIL and reason with him. Meet a compromise. He's executor. Not you or your dh.

I know for pension/life assurance benefits a child can be a beneficiary if they have been conceived at the time of death even if they haven't been born.
A child adopted out of a family is no longer a beneficiary regardless of the fact they were a biological child.
I'm not sure if the same rules apply to inheritance though.

Bloody hell I don't think the OP is being grabby!

Of course there are legalities but bil seems to want to forget that legalities apply to the adopted child too!

I think all parties agreeing to a 4 way split would be the fairest given the wording of the will. The GF didn't specify the adopted grandchild anymore than the soon to be born grandchild.

But, OP if it helps you deal with that not being the case, perhaps think that if you have more children, at least they will all be equal. Rather than eldest has £2.5 k savings and others have nothing?

Op
Please seek legal advice in real life , on here you will be told all sorts of things . See exactly where you stand rather than kicking yourself at a later date when it's too late to do anything .

I was about 12 weeks pregnant when my GM died. Baby had been born by the time it came to dividing up assets. The primary adult beneficiaries/executors agreed that my baby would be treated as a great grandchild under the will thus slightly reducing the pot that was shared between them.

@Lindy2

Pensions and life assurance is paid out under trust and it's the trustee's decision how that is done. A totally different situation to a will.

Only two can agree anyway, the two who are actually entitled to the money from the will. And they can't because they are too young, and their trustees can't as they have to act in the children's best interests and giving away money is certainly not in their best interests.
So it's a dead end.

TestingTestingWonTooFree has an example where it was possible FrancisCrawford. I'm assuming it wasn't the other great grandchildren who made the decision in that situation.

YABU. He died with 3 grandchildren. The money gets split between them. They've already got a difficult life. Your child is not "suffering" because this 2,500 quid is something they've never had. Nor are they entitled to it.

You might think he'd want to give it to them but you'll never know that. Maybe he wanted to give his money to the children that are in care as he knows they would need it

Not sure if this has been said. You can't know what your film's intentions were, as he passed away. I think the executor is executing the will correctly, by allocating the bequests as at the date of death.

all parties agreeing to a 4 way split would be the fairest given the wording of the will

The Executor could, and should, be subject to legal action in future if this suggestion is taken - what part of execution of a will don't people understand? BIL cannot do this due to the age of the two legally recognized children benefitting.

The Executor is there to distribute the estate as the deceased wrote, and within the law - there is NO ambiguity here about what "should" happen unless OP thinks the will is invalid or the estate is distributing it against the decreased's wishes.

Even if you weren't pregnant at the time he made the will I would still expect your child to receive a share. I would expect all grandchildren to be treated equally.

And this precisely is the trouble with asking legal advice on here. It doesn’t matter a toss what anyone ‘would expect’. Random posters opinions are completely irrelevant. The only thing that matters is what the law says.

Why should my child suffer just because he's not in care?

What a revolting comment.

Depending on how the will is worded they usually include 'en ventre sa mere' which means as long as you were pregnant when he died and the baby was later born alive then the baby is treated as having been a grandchild at the time of the death. It's usually included in the same clause that includes adopted children as natural children. HTH

If those two kids stay in care all their childhood 5k each could be absolutely life changing to them when the authorities leave them to their own devices at 18.

DD house mate at uni came out of foster care, my heart bled for him and the struggles he had financially and emotionally in comparison to the other housemates. 5k would have helped him enormously when they graduated before he got a job, started it and got paid. He didn’t have a family or home to go back to until he had sorted work.

Be generous in your heart.

Hmm I was accused of being stupid for having an opinion most on the thread share.

Terrible behaviour, and over £2.5k.

Are the grandchildren the children of the BIL who's the executor? If so, I can quite see why he wants the money to only go to his children!

I would fight for my child- if it’s £100 or £10,000.

It’s your child’s share.

There’s an argument that your child was alive in your womb at the time of FIL passing.

Look at the will first, and yes this is worth fighting tooth and nail for.

Sharing is caring!

There is something morally wrong about your brother in law interpreting the will in a say that benefits his children.

I doubt anyone in here providing you with legal advice is legally trained.

Speak to a solicitor or to citizens advice. Some of the advice you have been given here just sounds totally wrong.

There is substantial case law on this issue. A solicitor can tell you the answer after reviewing the Will, very quickly.

There's no such thing as being alive in the womb. Legally a baby isn't alive until it has taken a breath.

if anyone is being 'grabby' i would say it was the OPs BIL. hes not willing to bend the rules for the OPs child, but quite happy to do so for his own. hypocrite much?? All the OP is asking for fairness between all 4 grandchildren.
oh and FYI, the adopted child might be in a family of millionaires for all you know, lets not carry on as if adopted children are poor deprived souls. I have one, she does fine thanks very much.