My late fathers will

[Lifeswhatyoumakeit73]

My dad died last year in December. He had a Will and left a nominal sum in it to me & my brother. My stepmother & the children they had inherited the majority of the estate- 2 houses, all the money. That isn’t the issue though.

My dad told us that there was provision in the will - £50k each for me & my brother. Since he died my stepmother won’t talk about it, won’t tell us where the will is, won’t talk about probate- any of it. It basically feels like she doesn’t want us to have the money. I don’t really understand it to be honest- she is financially set up for life, her kids will get the houses & the money. My Dad just left this amount for me & my brother (our mum is alive so we will inherit her house)

Do we have legal rights? Surely if it was written in a will then she can’t withhold that money.

It’s really upsetting to be honest as my Dad spoke to us about it before he died- he wanted us to have it and was clear it was in the Will. But she won’t tell us anything - not even the solicitor.

I don’t want to sound grabby- she’s had everything & her kids will get all they need too. It’s just upsetting as it’s what my dad wanted & he was very clear about the will & I don’t know what to do.

If he did a will with a solicitor rather than a scribble piece of paper, then you will be notified by the solicitor

did he have £100k in cash for you and your brother or was it contingent on selling the house your SM lives in?

@TuesandThursNero cash- it was all there for us. And a proper will too

Is she the executor? Just do everything formally with the solicitor. She can't deny you money that was left to you. If she has done something fraudulent that she's trying to hide, that will need reporting to the authorities.

Even if it had been contingent on selling the house, I don't see what difference it would have made. It's still your money that you're owed.

@Ladysquamy shes the executor yes but she won’t tell us anything. We don’t know who the solicitor is - we haven’t heard a thing since after she vaguely mentioned she’d sort it after he died.

You can't know there was cash. If it was in a joint account for exanple it will automatically go to her. What about debts? Sounds like the estate might have iht to pay. Also, it can take ages to sort out an estate particularly if you dont really want to do it.

Have you checked probate registry?

@nowinhouse my Dad told us it was there! He was actually fairly transparent as it goes - but she has been anything but transparent

Sorry to hear about you dad.

As PP's have pointed out if he has a proper will then she cannot withhold that money. These things take a long time to sort out. My dad died almost 3 years ago and his UK will (which was only his bank account) took about 18 months to sort out, probate being the main factor. And once probate was sorted the solicitor had to put an ad in the North London Gazette asking for any creditors to come forward and you have yo allow six months for that.

Do you know who the solicitor / executor is?

Well then relax

That is a stick situation. However people who are executors of wills do have some oversight, you can’t just do anything you want. I’d be tempted at having a guess and calling some of the local solicitors and seeing if you can find it, but otherwise a legal letter of your own asking to see the will might be the way to go, easier if you’ve no desire to have anything more to do with her after it.

I really hate family drama, but it was his intention to leave it to you, and it’s not small changed. I’d maybe just send her a polite email, ask for a copy of the will within a set number of days and leave her to stew in it.

@nowinhouse no, how do I do that? Sorry, I am not very knowledgeable about this kind of stuff tbh

I'm so sorry for your loss. I lost my Dad late last year so we are going through the probate process. Even with a solicitor helping us it is a long winded process.

Your Dad's whole estate will have to be valued and reported to HMRC and inheritance tax paid, so this might be ongoing and may be the reason that you have yet to be given your inheritance.

Wills are public record so will eventually be available to view, so unless your Dad made a subsequent will, then your step mum will not be able to avoid giving it to you.

I think the timeframe for subbing to HMRC is six months so it should be sorted imminently. I can't say for definite as IANAL and when ours gave us this huge overwhelming amount of info, I don't remember it all.

www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

If you’re in the Uk then the executor has a duty to show beneficiaries a copy of the will. This is harder in practice though - I ended up taking legal advice for a very similar situation which was ultimately to play nice and eventually I received a copy. Have you checked whether she’s applied for probate? You can do this online.

Though if you mean he died 5 months ago i doubt very much probate has been applied for yet much less granted

Yea there is nothing on the register yet

I would recommend getting your own solicitor to advise on this and potentially helping to send a strongly worded letter to your stepmother to remind her of her obligations.

Hi OP, Probate Lawyer here.

If the Executor will not respond to you, I would suggest one of two things.

1. There is a Will Register which you could conduct a search through (there is a fee). If the Will was held by a Solicitor, they would be notified and could confirm whether they hold the Will. If you're not an Executor, however, they might not reply to you direct but rather contact the Exec to remind them they have the Will.

1. Go to your own Solicitor and get them to write a letter to the Exec, simply asking for a copy of the Will and for an update on progress. It just makes things a bit more formal and usually they reply quite quickly when they think you're pursuing legal action.

Unfortunately, administering an Estate can take some time, especially when a lay-person is involved (simply because a Lawyer knows exactly what to do, not because a lay-person isn't capable). If your dad had a lot of cash, which it sounds like he did if he can gift £100,000 to you and your brother, then Probate will likely be needed. The Probate Registry advise to allow 16 weeks for them to approve the application.

@AnImmenseDislikeOfPeople Thankyou! I don’t have a solicitor but I can get one! I have a sense that she was trying to do it herself

You don't need to use a solicitor for probate/distributing the estate, the executor can do it themself. So your SM might not be using a solicitor.

It takes a while to prepare the application for probate: property needs to be valued; investments valued retrospectively at the date of death; savings summarised.

After application, it takes up to 16 weeks for probate to be granted. There's a time limit to apply for probate after the person's death although I can't remember what it is - maybe one year. So your SM is still well within the deadline.

Inheritance tax might be due, although reduced or avoided if your dad left a lot to his wife and/or the property to their children.

If you're in England or Wales, this is the guidance:

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

A lot of people don't use a Solicitor but that doesn't mean there aren't rules to follow. An Executor must always act in accordance with the Will and the best interests of the Estate. Unfortunately, death and money can bring out the worst in people. It may be that she is just struggling with the loss of your dad and doesn't feel able to cope yet, which is also normal. In any event, she should at least let you know what is going on. Good luck!

Your stepmother has to follow the rules of probate. She can’t decide to withhold any inheritance due to you or your brother. I remember having to swear to this on oath with a solicitor when dealing with my late mothers estate.

Huh? We were granted probate 3 months after my mother died and her estate wasn't simple.