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!

[quote PurpleMustang]@titchy the heir hunter companies as awful as it sounds only get involved depending on how much the estate is worth, as they take a cut, and how hard it is to find the heirs as it costs them to delegate staff to even look, and with the mentioned name change they may not have looked or given up[/quote]
Not true (personal experience). Heir hunter companies have no basis to investigate the worth of an estate. They can only do that once they have spent time and money on finding potential heir(s) and act on their behalf (for a %).

Often once they have done that they find the estate is bankrupt and act no further.

@Billben

Sorry, but morally this just doesn’t sit right with me. It’s grabby and desperate. I rather estates like these just went to charities. They just bring the worst out in people otherwise.

estates like this do not go to charities. They go to the Crown.

and believe me, all the major charities have teams and teams of probate lawyers who fight tooth and nail for every bloody penny. Its not all nice soft woolly animals and children. It's a deeply lucrative business.

[ex charity executive here]

The other worrying possibility is that the estranged spouse actually turns out to have a long lost 3rd cousin twice removed somewhere.

Who could turn out to have a claim on OP's parent's estate, as it should originally have gone to the estranged spouse & NOT to OP &/or her other parent, when her married parent pre-deceased the spouse!

Or does that not happen after probate has gone through & so forth?

This is not grabby. OP is either entitled or not. It isn't grabby to be entitled to something under the law. Nor to checkout whether such entitlement exists.

And I mean "entitled" as a disinterested legal term, not as a disparaging label.

@CorvusPurpureus

The other worrying possibility is that the estranged spouse actually turns out to have a long lost 3rd cousin twice removed somewhere.

Who could turn out to have a claim on OP's parent's estate, as it should originally have gone to the estranged spouse & NOT to OP &/or her other parent, when her married parent pre-deceased the spouse!

Or does that not happen after probate has gone through & so forth?

It probably will go to a long lost cousin - most do!

Assuming OP's parents had wills there is nothing to worry about in that regard.

FWIW I don't think the OP has a claim either. OP's parent who was married to the person who died would have inherited if they hadn't died first, then it would have come to OP in time. But as they died first, any claim has gone unless OP's real father is not named on her birth certificate.

I inherited from an intestate estate about 15 years ago. The person who died had never married and had no children. In the end around 30 of us inherited varying amounts from the estate depending on how close we were in the family tree to the person who died. Some inherited 30k, I got £1.6k. If the estate is of value, then heir hunters will put the legwork in and in all likelihood find some eligible living relatives. In my case, it was a cousin of my grandmother who had died, but I'd never heard of them.

Let us know what a lawyer says! DFIL inherited £20,000 from a relative he’d never heard of a few years ago.

@TrickyD

There is a huge difference between a surprise inheritance from a distant relative and seeking to get money off your dad’s wife who he had left to start a relationship with someone else.

RTFT, OP is not trying to get money of the dad's wife, he did not have one as he never married after he and OP!s mum split up. The only wife he ever had, OP's mum, died a few years ago.

These inheritance threads are always riddled with the jealousy of those who are very unlikely to inherit anything.

Sorry @TrickyD but it’s you who has misread the OP

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

Prior to her parents getting together and producing the OP one of them had already married previously and then left their spouse. They never divorced and the OP’s parents were never married to each other. The OP’s parents took on a different name according to her posts so maybe the deserted spouse couldn’t find them in order to get a divorce.

Imagine your spouse leaving for someone else and having a child with them. You and your spouse do not divorce. Your spouse and you are now dead. Does the child of your runaway spouse and their OW/OM have a claim? I have no idea, it sounds complex. It may depend on who died first. It may also depend on the genders. A child born to a married woman is generally regarded a a child of the marriage unless the birth certificate states a different father. A child born from a married man’s relationship with another woman is not generally regarded as a child of the marriage.

Urgh. So grabby. So crass. This makes me feel dirty just reading it. Urgh Op just Urgh.

@Sacredspace

I think you might have an interest. As I understand it the law assumes the husband is the father of any child born during a marriage. So I’m assuming he is named on your (long) birth certificate? In which case you would legally be considered his next of kin.

I’ve no idea, but I’d guess this ^^

Strangedayindeed so you would nobly turn down the chance of an inheritance, and let it go to the Crown? Wow......

@Clawdy

Like Pp have said there is a difference between an unexpected inheritance and seeking one out when you have a tenuous link at best.

Who is named on your birth certificate OP? Is it your Dad or your Mum's ex husband or no one?

"Sacredspace

I think you might have an interest. As I understand it the law assumes the husband is the father of any child born during a marriage. So I’m assuming he is named on your (long) birth certificate? In which case you would legally be considered his next of kin."

That assumes that the parent who was left is male & that both of Op's parents aren't named on their bcertificate.

Also, if they lived apart for many years & were living with someone else, would they still be assumed to be Op's father?

Like Pp have said there is a difference between an unexpected inheritance and seeking one out when you have a tenuous link at best

It would be grabby if OP was trying to take money from others, but there appear to be no other claimants so it makes sense to find out her position.

OP have you traced any living relatives of the recently deceased person? The Gov website suggests that anyone descended from the deceased’s grandparents could have a claim?

I don’t think you are grabby as you are operating on the basis of there being no kin. I think you should investigate, technically you may have rights, the background is sk mysterious, why would the original couple not have divorced? Unless you are a novelist, in which case this is a very exciting plot turn.

@Clawdy

Strangedayindeed so you would nobly turn down the chance of an inheritance, and let it go to the Crown? Wow......

Bizarre. The OP is only wondering if she has a claim, she's not shifting heaven and earth in order to prove that she does.

I'd wonder too, and it does no harm asking! If no, then the OP sounds unbothered.

I'm not aware of any relatives that the deceased person had, they were not from the UK originally and came to the UK in wartime.

My parents didn't leave wills. However my parent who was married to the person who has now died left basically no assets once funeral costs were paid for (we were not a wealthy family), my other parent left a modest sum in a policy which paid directly to me as named next of kin. My parents didn't own a property or car, or have more money in the bank than covered funeral costs. So I'm not a rich heiress looking for double bubble by grabbily claiming this money!

It's a lesson I guess in making sure you have a will. And in getting divorced once a marriage ends. I'm not married but I am definitely making a will after all this, whatever the outcome.

@Bluemooninmyeyes1

You have no legal ties to this person so you won’t inherit anything. Her own family will inherit and if she has no family her estate will go to the government.

Professional heir hunter here. If the deceased had no children, parents, spouse, sibling, cousin or cousins removed then in England, the estate falls to the Crown.

In Scotland, we can go to second cousins and theoretically beyond.

I'd still contact an heir hunter and see if anything can be done. I just inherited £88 from my a cousin of my grandmother that I'd never heard of. 😂 They do t get to see the value of the estate until they put in their request. It's worth a try at least.

It's a lesson I guess in making sure you have a will.

If they had made a will it's highly unlikely they would have named you in it!

I'd sooner it went to soon loosely distance person hardly related than the crown.

You do know the Crown here means public funds, not the Royal Family?