to think ten years after someone’s died is too late?

[RobynsMama]

my cousin, who i’m very close to we’re almost like sisters, was left a house about six years ago in a neighbours will. she grew up on the street and this couple were like grandparents to her, they had no kids of their own (and the wife was no contact with her own sister, which will become relevant in a bit) and she treated them much like she did our own grandparents.

As they got older my cousin still did a lot for them. little things like helping them set up the internet, and popping in for tea and visiting a couple of times each week. whrn the got husband poorly and near to the end of their lives my cousin was doing a lot of caring for him, as they only had caters four times per day and the wife had dementia and was getting stressed out not understanding why he was bedridden. he sadly died ten years ago, the wife had a couple of bad falls, broke both hips in succession. and had to gk to a care home and sadly died three years after him.

they left their house to my cousin, there were no other benefactors to the will. my cousin rents this out now through an agency. the tenants got a weird letter addressed “to the occupier” and it was someone referencing my cousins neighbours by name, saying they were relatives of the wife’s sister and they wanted more information about who is living in the house.

cousin just ignored it as there’s a lot of backstory and they were no contact with the sister for a reason. but today my cousin got a phone call from the funeral directors who done both the funerals for them, asking if they could pass her details along to these family members who had rung up to enquire about them.

aibu to think that after ten years my cousin doesn’t owe them any explanation? if they truly cared they could’ve tried to make contact and make amends when they were alive. i reckon they might be after money or a portion of the house. can they still contest a will after this long?

sorry i know it’s really long didn’t want to drop feed anything.

How weird after all this time , I would be very concerned as to what their motives are , I would ask the funeral director not to pass anything on .

I don’t have any professional advice to offer so don’t know the answer to your question but - wow, that’s a bolt out of the blue!

My first thought is they are sniffing round for money/property but I suppose it could be the other way around and they wish to pass on something from the sister to a ‘relative’ and might assume that person was now living in the house? Long shot I know.

Do you know if the sister was notified of the deaths at the time? I
Given the likely ages it feels equally likely to me that someone else is trying to contact family to notify them of the sisters illness or death.
If I was you I would want to know! I think I would set up a free email address and ask the funeral director to pass that on. Then you can always delete if it turns out they’re looking for money…

Bizarre! The funeral directors should be told firmly not to pass any information on!

I'd imagine after this length of time any claim would be unlikely to succeed unless there were super-extenuating circumstances?

It usually has to be within the 6 months after probate is granted to contest a will. I’d ask the funeral director to direct them to neighbours solicitors. They can reassure them that the neighbours will was carried out correctly.

From a legal perspective, they have very, very little chance of challenging the will (unless there is some backstory of lack of capacity/fraud).

Who knows what they want - perhaps they just want confirmation of if and when they died. I can understand why you and your cousin are apprehensive.

If they've only just found out the couple is dead they can't have been very close!

If they are interested in the will it is now a public record and they can pay for a copy. I would not allow the funeral director to pass on details.

To me, this is more trying to contact Mrs Neighbour to either notify her of her sister's death or, possibly, sister is hoping to make amends before they die - totally unaware she is 10 years too late.

Don't worry about the house or any money. The couple were perfectly entitled to leave everything they had to the person they had considered a granddaughter for many years. Even if they had had living children & they'd contested the will at the time they wouldn't have got anywhere.

This.

Given they initially sent a letters enquiring about who now occupied the house then I can absolutely see why your cousin is worried they are looking for some financial gain, especially as they then contacted the funeral home so they know the relative is deceased.

The person who sees the good in everyone part of me would hope it was simply someone trying to notify the couple that her sister was unwell or had passed away. However, the cynical practical part of me thinks your cousin is wise to be wary as it would be easy to check they were dead and had been for a significant period of time!

I’d set up an email address too. I’m too nosey to let it go!

Hard no the FD question.

They've been watching that fortune hunter programme and think they've got a claim.

I'd want to know as well, the email address is a good idea. Maybe they just want to make sure everything is above board.

Apologies, as I'm clearly the only one utterly confused by this the tenants got a weird letter addressed “to the occupier” and it was someone referencing my cousins neighbours by name

So the letter wasn't address to your cousin or the tenant, but your cousins neighbour??? So the tenant handed the letter to your cousin?

What did your cousin say to the funeral directors?

How did they know which funeral director to contact? So they know that the neighbours are dead,

You do have to make some sort of public announcement as a part of probate don't you? Asking anyone with an interest in the estate of XY to contact AB before such and such a date.

Maybe an online search found that announcement? Maybe there was an online obituary stating the funeral director?

Going against the majority, I’d be tempted to tackle this head on and make contact.

The relatives will easily be able to track down your cousin. The will and the property title are publicly available. By avoiding them she may give them the impression she has something to hide or that everything is not above board. She’ll also avoid her tenants being bothered by further enquiries and she’ll ahave a chance to get the measure of them. I’d get the funeral director to get a phone number for them and arrange a time to call (she should probably withhold her number), be prepared to give basic facts and see what they have to say.

so it was addressed just “the occupier” then the address but in the letter it says they are relatives of mr and mrs X an they want to know who is living in the house. the tenant had opened it but then passed it to my cousin when they read it.

so they clearly know they’ve died so i’m not sure as pp have said maybe they want to pass on details of the sisters passing. i’d be tempted by making an email myself and letting the funeral directors pass it along but i’ll have to go with what my cousin wants to do.

Definitely advise your cousin only have written correspondence with these relatives. She'll then have a paper trail should she need it. No phone calls and no meet-ups. They sound like they're bringing trouble/a headache so anything she can do to make her more secure would be good.

Not that she should need to, but it's always better to be proactive than wish afterwards that you could prove what has been said!

Sounds like they have just realised she's dead and think the inheritance should be theirs. I'd love to witness their complaint in a court.

I too would set up an email and let the funeral director pass that on . No need to give phone numbers or addresses.

Get legal advice and pass on lawyers email. Don't give out names.