Slightly odd inheritance question...AIBU?

[Jpr95]

Well it's not quite an AIBU because I don't think I'm entitled to anything here legally but just in case I thought it might be worth asking the question!

So, my parent was married, left their spouse, some years later met my other parent and had me. But never divorced their spouse.

Both my parents died a few years ago. I've been researching my family tree in lockdown and discovered that the spouse died last year apparently with no next of kin. From what I've been able to find out of where they lived, it seems they were quite wealthy.

I don't think I have any entitlement here do I? Rationally I feel not, but then again I can't help wondering about it. It could be a life-changing amount of money.

Do I need to just forget about it all and stop daydreaming about possible inheritances? Or is it worth me making some enquiries with the government legal dept (think that's what they're called, the body who deal with estates of those with no family). Talk some sense to me please!

[HeronLanyon]

eryouwhat I know. I think it may have been one of your posts that made me post as I did. We do indeed differ.

[Onceuponatimethen]

Actually think we should all be talking about wills way more. I’m astonished by how many people don’t have them, including people separated from spouses. Guess where the cash will likely go?

We all need to be much more open about the advantages of having a will and it should be as commonplace as having house insurance. They aren’t expensive to sort out

[MsTSwift]

It’s very easy to do and not expensive. If you don’t make a will you are clearly demonstrating by your actions that you are not hugely bothered about who inherits your estate so handwringing about randoms inherit is rather silly. The deceased could very easily have avoided this scenario.

Lots of amusing virtue signalling on this thread though “I wouldn’t accept the inheritance I would give it to charity” yeah right 😁

[Eryouwhat]

@HeronLanyon and I’m astounded at those who DON’T consider it grabby and immoral. Takes all sorts I guess 🤷‍♀️

@MsTSwift ohhhhh all they needed to do was make a will?! You don’t say!! The millions of people who die intestate every year sure could have done with having you and your pearls of wisdom around 👍never mind, two third of people in this country currently don’t have a will so carry on spreading the word 😂

[MsTSwift]

Agree. If the deceased felt that strongly they only needed to make a will 🙄

[HeronLanyon]

I’m astounded at those questioning morals here.
The laws of intestacy are designed to avoid op’s father’s estate going to the State. (mother? - ive lost track)
They seek to find relatives in these circs recognising that the dead person would have likely left money to relatives rather than meant it to go the State. Relatives who come within the rules.

Often people inherit who have not known or even known of the deceased person because they are connected in a way recognised as inheritors by the rules.
Op is simply wondering if she is one such and has made very clear that she knows she might not be. If nothing else I’ve found it interesting to realise that this type of tenuous link exists and what it might mean.

Nothing grabby or immoral in the slightest IMO to make the enquiry.

[movingonup20]

It may be worth asking an heir hunter specialist, they usually work on a % of estate basis. If a person is married there is an assumption in law that any children are theirs even if that isn't the case, or at least there was, obviously dna means proof is available but in days gone by that was assumed. If there is no heir it is possible, I'm certain that if the spouse had died first your parent would have inherited, just not sure about the other way around, it all hangs on whether the child's parentage is of relevance if they were legally married

[Mcnotty]

@Eryouwhat

I didn’t question the importance of making wills. Everyone should have a will. If only to ensure assets don’t go to people you wouldn’t want to get their mitts on it in your wildest dreams.

However, the quickest of Internet searches will show that not making wills is much more common than it should be, and that there are lots of different reasons for that.

Just because you potentially ‘can’ do something, doesn’t mean you should. Imho.

@Eryouwhat You and a few others are voices crying in the wilderness. I think most posters are just wrapped up in the legalities and morality doesn’t really come into it. “All things are lawful but not all things profitable” and that. I’m agog reading this thread how a person can have no conscience at all for the sake of money. HOWEVER, over on another inheritance thread, the OP’s behaviour is so abhorrent, it makes this one look like a saint.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

people with some tenuous links do sometimes end up with the inheritance in these circumstances.

Not without a blood or legal (marriage/adoption) tie to the deceased. The OP was not related to him in any way.

Decades ago I knew a woman who was caring for her widowed MIL who had dementia. The woman and her husband had no children. The MIL had a will made years earlier, leaving everything to the woman's DH, her only child. He was not in the best of health, so if he had died before his mother, the mother's estate would have passed to cousins or their children, not to her DIL. Some would say that wouldn't have been fair, but that's how the law stands.

[BecomeStronger]

[quote Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]@BecomeStronger, you're right that if OP's parent had still been alive s/he would have inherited under intestacy law, but as OP's parent died first OP's claim stops right there, except in the vanishingly unlikely case that the deceased was named as her father on her birth certificate, which would clearly have been a lie.

Think about it. X leaves Y, has child with Z, the child of X and Z now wants to inherit from Y. What possible claim does that child have on Y's estate?[/quote]
Of course if there were other relatives but there aren't and people with some tenuous links do sometimes end up with the inheritance in these circumstances.

Re the birth certificate, it depends. If no one else is named, the mother's husband is the assumed father.

[Coffeehunter]

Why don't you try matched betting or taking in some ironing? There are easier and less grabby ways of making money.
Do you have any morals?

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

@BecomeStronger, you're right that if OP's parent had still been alive s/he would have inherited under intestacy law, but as OP's parent died first OP's claim stops right there, except in the vanishingly unlikely case that the deceased was named as her father on her birth certificate, which would clearly have been a lie.

Think about it. X leaves Y, has child with Z, the child of X and Z now wants to inherit from Y. What possible claim does that child have on Y's estate?

[TheWordWomanIsTaken]

Out of interest OP, how do you know there was no divorce? You say your parent changed their name and assuming that their spouse may not have been aware of that, could they not have started divorce proceedings after five years (when they do not need the consent of their deserting spouse) and served the papers in their former name at their last known address?

[BecomeStronger]

I think you probably do have an interest. Had your parent been alive they would have inherited and then it would have gone to you. Certainly worth getting in touch with the firm dealing with the estate.

Morally I think I'd have to do some good with the money rather than treating it as a windfall though and actually, letting "the government" ie schools, nhs, policing, have it might be the correct thing to do.

[IKEAwebsitecompletecon]

Yes the obvious thing is to establish if the deceased was a man or woman and if it was a man, is he on the OPs birth certificate? These are two really important questions which the OP hasn't answered. It's strange.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

The OP seems to have decided that telling us whether it was her mother or her father who separated many decades ago would enable us all to identify her immediately.

[VanGoghsDog]

I'm not a solicitor but I think it's the case that in law children are assumed to be fathered by their mother's husband.

Unless a different father is on the birth certificate. So if the actual father goes along with the mother to the registrar then they go on the birth certificate. The OP might let us know what their birth certificate says?

[IKEAwebsitecompletecon]

I also think it's odd that OP deliberately avoids using a pronoun to describe the deceased.

I'm not a solicitor but I think it's the case that in law children are assumed to be fathered by their mother's husband. In that case the deceased could be considered to be the OPs father as there was never a divorce. On the other hand if the deceased is a woman then she is simply a step mother to OP. So, the sex of the deceased is really important in this situation.

Question is, why is the OP deliberately withholding this information which may make a big difference to the answer?

[sst1234]

What is with all the inheritance threads lately. Parents not dividing estates equally, people trying to claim strangers money.

[sst1234]

@HerRoyalNotness

I’d rather the OP got it and it helped her life than it was swallowed up by the govt.

The same government that spends on public services? Oh yes it’d be a terrible shame if the public benefited from this money than another random person who never knew the deceased or did anything for them.

[VivaMiltonKeynes]

Have I missed the point where the OP says which parent - Mother or Father she is talking about? Why so mysterious @Jpr95 ?

[Eryouwhat]

I didn’t question the importance of making wills. Everyone should have a will. If only to ensure assets don’t go to people you wouldn’t want to get their mitts on it in your wildest dreams.

However, the quickest of Internet searches will show that not making wills is much more common than it should be, and that there are lots of different reasons for that.

Just because you potentially ‘can’ do something, doesn’t mean you should. Imho.

[Jpr95]

@Eryouwhat they may have filed for divorce however no divorce was ever finalised. The separation was many decades ago. Likewise they would have had many years to make a will between then and the time of death. My parents didn't make wills primarily because they had nothing to leave. When you do have assets it really is important. It's been a good reminder to me to get on and make a will.

[IKEAwebsitecompletecon]

I am finding some of the posts on here almost childlike in their (mis)understanding of the law.

The law is a system of rules. That is quite separate from fairness or morality. Somebody could have a long and loving relationship but if they don't marry or make a will then when they die someone else entirely might inherit the estate. It could be their worst enemy or even someone they have never met or someone they don't even know exists. It doesn't matter if it's 'fair' or not. It's the law.

I don't understand why some people are questioning whether the OP can inherit from someone who never knew her. Lawyers don't spend their time making subjective judgments about how well you knew somebody. They just get the list of inheritance rules out.

[cabbageking]

If she died last year it is likely to have been assessed by now
www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/unclaimed-estates-list