Cheated out of inheritance.

[Watzzap]

Sorry this might be quite long. My late dh, who passed away 10 months ago, had 1 sibling. Both he and sibling had POA for fil. I know fil did not have a Will. Fil was in a Care Home as could not manage at home. Prior to him going into Care my dh and I were first contacts for fil on Community Alarm System and visited him every day. Saying this to show we did help out and have had a lot of input with Fil. We also regularly visited fil in his Care Home.

Fil passed away 6 months ago. As my dh had also died, sil organised funeral and sorted out finances. I did not expect to receive anything from my fil’s estate, but I expected my dcs to receive their DF’s share. However, apparently fil had very little to leave, therefore my dc’s share was only £1k each! When I asked sil what had happened to the rest of fil’s money she said that was all that was left after funeral costs etc.! For background, Sil has solely dealt with fil’s finances for quite a few years, however both she and my dh were named on his main account as had joint POA, until my dh died. I also know sil has withdrawn and hid money in the past, so fil got his Care Home place paid for (needed to be less than £23250). She also took his car and gave it to her son. I also know that fil had numerous Life Insurances etc. My dh was very laid back and just let her get on with things and never said anything about how his ds dealt with fil’s finances.

Fil’s funeral costs would be around £3/4K. It now looks like she has kept all the money to herself from the account she (and my dh, prior to his death) was named on and paid all expenses from his other account, which was solely in his name. Even taking this into consideration, with his other insurances, there should have been a lot more than the £6k she says is all that was left!

Is there anything I can do? As I said, I do not want anything, but feel that my 3 dcs have been cheated out of their inheritance.

Your DC would probably have ended up with nothing at all if your FIL’s care had actually been paid for. So luckily you are actually up thanks to the taxpayer - considering you were complicit in fraud I’d probably just leave it tbh.

@ChicChaos

Suppose I could always dob her in as I do have evidence (screenshots, copies of documents, bank statements which show money being transferred into her account etc.).

Wouldn't that leave no money at all if the estate has to repay the care home fees?

I suppose that may depend on how much has been hidden & how close to being "eligible" to having his fees paid FIL was.

So your husband has died and the family are only looking after themselves? What a mean set of bastards, knowing you are on your own now is what I say.

Your DH 's POA terminated on his death, leaving SIL with sole authority over their father;s accounts.

FIL died intestate. This means that (after settling any debts ) the residue of his estate was shared out according to intestacy law in the country where he resided.

There is no reason for you to know who was appointed to settle his estate; but whoever it was, they can charge expenses of that task, to the estate. The charges made by solicitors and banks are considerable.

You say that when they both held POA, laid -back DH left all the financial stuff to his sister. Since DH died, you have no clue what debts and living expenses FIL's end of life care incurred after DH died. Any outstanding after FIL's death, had to be settled from his assets.

£6000 is a relatively small sum that could easily be swallowed up by the above debts and expenses.

.

Agree - you didn’t report the fraud - you are complicit.
Your sister in law has probably spent the money if any - let it go . Your children can make their own money in life . Move on for your own sanity.

@Bluntness100

You don’t actually say what the will said, just what you feel your kids are entitled to?

There WAS NO WILL.

It seems unlikely that the life insurances would still be in place for an elderly single person who didn’t earn any money and had no dependants. Still, worth checking if you have copies of the policy documents.

The rest of the estate sounds like it was small fry eg if SIL offered DH £1k when siphoning off the money, it’s unlikely that she took even tens of thousands altogether. Before anyone says “that might be a lot of money to the OP”, you have to factor in the legal costs of trying to pursue her for fraud etc.

@SudokuWillNotSaveYou

I’m sorry; you say: DH passed away 10 months ago. FIL passed away six months ago. Therefore DH couldn’t “inherit” from FIL, and unless FIL left à will specifying you or his grandchildren, you don’t actually get anything. That’s how it works. Your DCs don’t get any portion of an inheritance that your DH might have received; to the courts, four months is the same as ten years. And you wouldn’t expect your DCs to inherit if FIL died 10 years after DH (unless there was a will specifying DCs inherit). I’m sorry though, as I know this is very painful, and some people may look at this as “morally” incorrect, especially if you and DC are financially struggling without DH and you and DH spent the most time with FIL. But no, there’s no law that any of you inherit a pence.

No decent solicitor would take this on (you might find a slimy one who will take advantage of your grief, if you agree to pay them up front - do NOT do this).

This is actually incorrect. Even in England and Wales if a child predeceases a parent when that parent dies any children of the pre-ceased child inherit their share.

So many people on here giving the incorrect position!!

The cold hard facts of this are that there was no will . He died intestate . Your SIL as a beneficiary will have claimed probate . She has taken what is legally hers as she is the only remaining child . Any Grandchildren come after her . She has given a token amount to your children but legally there was no need for her to do so .

You talk about what you did for FIL beforehand but that is irrelevant .

If people aren't self funding, do they still contribute most of their pension?

Depending on how long he was in, savings can soon be depleted by toiletries, clothes, treats that still need to be paid for.

@WorraLiberty

Suppose I could always dob her in as I do have evidence (screenshots, copies of documents, bank statements which show money being transferred into her account etc.).

Pretty low to dob her in now that it won't come back on you/your family.

Why is it low? Or any lower than what has already gone on. The family cheats the system, then one person goes rogue to try and keep the proceeds. The other dobs them in. Seems the logical next step to me.

@MadamMedea

Suppose I could always dob her in as I do have evidence (screenshots, copies of documents, bank statements which show money being transferred into her account etc.).

How on Earth do you have copies of her bank statements?!

I came across bank statements (and other documents) of both sil and fil when I was helping to clear fil’s house for him going into care. She had a savings account linked to his address, don’t know why, maybe didn’t want her dh to know about the money? The statements were just lying in a drawer so think she had forgotten to hide them. When I saw the amounts coming out of fil’s accounts I then checked her savings account. The statements showed she (with or without fil’s knowledge) had been hiding his money for several years, so that he got housing benefit.

I do apologise - my statement above was a load of bollocks From the GOV UK website

Intestacy - who inherits if someone dies without a will?:
Information based on your answers
The estate is shared equally between the children or their descendants.

If a son or daughter has already died, their children (the grandchildren of the deceased) inherit in their place.

OP, you’d be crazy to not her report her. She stole from the state and now stealing from your children.

www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will/y

@DottyHarmer

Yes, can't believe that people spout absolutely incorrect advice.

If someone dies and has two children, both inherit. If one of the children has already died, then their portion is split between their children. In-laws (ie the daughter-in-law of deceased) are by-passed.

As others have observed, the trouble with poking this tiger is that the "mislaying" of the fil's assets may come to light, and that's not going to end well.

This is so true. If someone has power of attorney they have to keep records of where the money has been spent. You can't just spend someone else's money if it's not for their benefit.

@Watzzap you have to be somewhat careful as we have just had a similar situation - money take regularly out of a parent's account and going into a child's account . The person claimed that an agreement had been made ( too late to prove) and this was their " payment" in return for looking after the parent on a day to day basis - shopping, visit etc thus making it impossible for them to work on a full time basis . This does contravene the gifting amount but it can be a very complicated and costly process to untangle and could result in even less estate being left at the end.

Sorry now for this stupid question, but if a person doesn’t make a will, what exactly happens?
Is there someone that officially ‘gives out’ or divides up the estate? Officially? I imagine it takes more time and is messy but what actually happens.

In films people go in to see the will being read and it’s often dramatic, but what if the person makes no will?

Sorry again for the stupid question, I suppose I’m lucky to have no experience with any of this, I’m just interested who looked over what happened here. Did the sil just get a letter one day handing everything over to her? What if there was a house etc.

@DameMaureen She has taken what is legally hers as she is the only remaining child . Any Grandchildren come after her .

There was no will. The SIL is still alive, so in she inherits her share, and not her children ahead of her.

The other grandchildren inherit their father's share as he predeceased his own father, and therefore they go to the top of that line for his portion to be shared out between them.

"This is so true. If someone has power of attorney they have to keep records of where the money has been spent. You can't just spend someone else's money if it's not for their benefit."

Absolutely.

Yet SIL has managed to steal from him & previous benefit fraud wasn't detected!

I also know that fil had numerous Life Insurances etc.

You mean, you know that back when his wife was alive, he had life insurance policies naming her as the beneficiary.

After his wife died, he may simply have decided there was no further need for life insurance. Just cashed in the policies , no more premiums, extinct policies now not worth the paper they are written on.

This is not uncommon among elderly single persons.

@DameMaureen , apologies, see your correction.

[quote Cailleach1]@DameMaureen She has taken what is legally hers as she is the only remaining child . Any Grandchildren come after her .

There was no will. The SIL is still alive, so in she inherits her share, and not her children ahead of her.

The other grandchildren inherit their father's share as he predeceased his own father, and therefore they go to the top of that line for his portion to be shared out between them.[/quote]
Yes I did know there is no will . See my added posts.

[quote Cailleach1]@DameMaureen , apologies, see your correction.[/quote]
ooppssss 😂

You seem to have physical proof. It’s only been months since your dh’s death . It is understandable you have sat on information, you have children and a double bereavement.

As for knowing about your Sil’s dealings, if you do decide to divulge, you could just go down the ‘I suspected Sil but had no proof’ and your dh was very ill so you didn’t have the strength to look into it further. But now your dcs have been denied their inheritance rights, enough is enough.

If you decide not to divulge the fraud, I would chase your dc’s share. Your sil clearly has zero regard for you and your family.