Legal next of kin

[Newfornow]

My Parent has died, not married, no partner. They nominated a next of kin, my uncle. Next of kin is angry that the deceased told them they wanted an old love to inherit.
Speculation about what the will actually contains is rife and if my uncle finds the will of which they are executor what stops them from disregarding the will?
It is possibly a will kit, no solicitor.
How can as his only child, stop him emptying bank accounts etc.
Any advice please.
I was it close to my parent, I don’t k of the bank account. My uncle wants to keep everything for himself. I do not think this morally right.

Uncle feels it’s his right to take all because he was closer to him.

If there is no will then you as the child would inherit.

How ?
I don’t know the bank . What is to stop my uncle doing it?

There is a process, Hope this helps

https://www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate/apply-for-probate

If there is no will he can't be executor.

Legally you are

Legally you are next of kin...

Hello @Newfornow. Just moving this, as requested.

Legally you are next of kin...

Glad you posted this @RandomMess, I thought perhaps I'd been labouring under a misapprehension for years.

If there is no will, OP, I believe you can apply for something called Letters of Administration and deal with the estate yourself, as next of kin. You'll need a copy of the death certificate and a copy of your birth certificate to show that this was your parent.

I helped a friend do this some years ago and it was pretty straightforward.

Next of kin is largely irrelevant and is particularly so where inheritance and wills are concerned. Nominated to who? Hospital?

In the event of there not being a will you will inherit op, along with any siblings.

Were you estranged from your parent? Is there much to inherit?

It doesn't matter what your uncle wants, if there's a will it will say where it goes, if there isn't it comes to you.

If there isn't much to inherit ie no large sums of money or property I wouldn't want to take on sorting out the inheritance. It could be a nightmare if the estate is insolvent or there are debts to sort out. Nothing says that you have to take on that, even if you are legally the closest relative.

Maybe property .. need to see the will. Uncle not allowing it. Feel like giving up with this

The will should be registered.

Presumably it's illegal for the executor to not carry out the will.

Do you have an legal cover with your house insurance?? It sounds like you need to get advice tbh.

I would ask MNHQ to move this over to legal.

There are some fantastic posters that can give you their qualified legal advice and what to do if he claims there is a will but isn't executing it accordingly.

As the only child of the deceased you are the next of kin. If your father died intestate ie without a will then the laws of intestacy come into play. You would need to apply for Letters of Administration and you would be the legal representative to administer the estate. Depending on the value of the estate I think you would inherit everything. You can Google it. If there is a will then the executor is legally obliged to carry out the terms of the will. You could maybe contact the probate office for advice. If there is property Grant of Probate (if will in place) or Letters of Administration will be required. You really need to seek legal advice. Probate is a public document.

In your situation, instruct a solicitor.

Are you 100% sure that there is a will?

Just apply for grant of letter of administration. No need to involve your uncle at all .

Fill in the form here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/probate-forms

Yeah, you just apply to sort it out. Letters of administration/ probate. It’s a piece of paper that lets you deal with everything

The will should be registered.

You can register a will, but it's by no means compulsory.

@knittingaddict it seems that wills are so easily abused...

Thank you for your time replying.
@knittingaddict. When you say not compulsory to register, where do you mean to register ??

@Howallergic... no I’m not sure. Uncle is asserting himself with no authority in writing just claiming to be executor whilst also saying he didn’t sign anything. Surely he would have agreed to be an executor?

Thank you @titchy

for the link . My concern is he will go to the bank with death certificate... how can the bank actually know that he is not legal next of kin ?

Next of kin generally applies when you are alive.
If there is no will, then rules of inheritance say children first- if no children, then parents, then siblings.

I am not a lawyer, please seek proper advice.
I am sorry for your loss.

People can be nominated as an executor in a will and not know anything about it - he seems to have accepted the role though!

When you say your Uncle has been nominated as NOK - how, and with who?

If he has a will written by your father and he's mentioned as the executor then the bank are likely to say if he needs to obtain probate.