To wonder if she can keep the whole inheritance?

[feelingrobbed]

TLDR - my father has rejected his inheritance, will it now come to me and if so how do I make sure I get it?

I’ll start off by saying nothing about my family is normal.

Background- My parents split when I was two. From then until now (38) I’ve seen my dad less than 15 times. I have one DB who was a baby when they split.
My dad went on to have 3 more children.

We do text - quite regularly considering he lives an hour from me and I’ve never stepped foot in his home. He’s never attempted to improve our relationship but sends me regular messages wishing me well and sending me prayers. I don’t know why I reply but we’re always cordial with one another.

My paternal grandmother has always been accessible. But we were never close. I’ve been to her house many times but realised at her funeral I’d never tasted her food! Never slept in her home or spent more than a couple days hours with her. (Not really her fault to be fair)

I invited her and her daughter (my dad’s half sister) to my wedding. I was forbidden by my DM to invite my dad which was fair enough all though at the time I felt a great sense of shame he wouldn’t be there and couldn’t understand why she and my maternal family were so forceful about it.

I received a message on Facebook from my cousin (aunts daughter) saying grandma was sick. I visited and that was the end of comms.
Fast forward to last year grandma died. Despite as I say reasonably regular texts from my dad he never mentioned it. My aunt calls out of the blue and says she died weeks before.
I went to the funeral alone. A mandate had gone out that everyone should wear white but no one told me. I was hurt but I got on with it. My dad was not at the funeral nor were any of his other children.
After funeral aunt and I spoke a few times but nothing came of it.

She calls me yesterday (she did mention once last year I might get some cash when estate was resolved but I thought it was nonsense tbh. Other than telling my brother I forgot about it) she called me FIVE TIMES. Texts me saying urgent call me. I call her. She tells me dad has rejected his share of the money and so it will flow down to his children. We end up video calling - None of them have met my child- and she introduced herself and invited us to meet her in today.

I won’t lie, I was deliriously happy to hear about this money. I am a SAHM and need to get back on my feet due to marital issues however she doesn’t know about this.

I text her a few hours later and say nice talking to you please send me the location to meet you tomorrow. No reply then an hour later I see a missed call - I called her back within 5 mins. No answer or reply.

This morning my kid wakes up excited let’s go and meet this new aunt so despite my reluctance I text again. No fucking reply

I am first of all fuming I let her disappoint my child. I have purposefully not even mentioned them to my DD before this. She knows I have a dad but she thinks he lives far away. He doesn’t. She knows my grandmother died but I hadn’t mentioned this aunt. DD is reception age.

Putting aside my ego - what happens now? I’m presuming she won’t contact me again or will leave it another 5 years. She has major issues with my dad and she is absolutely right to - however she and I have never really had anything at all to do with one another. I’ve met her less than 5 times since I was two and that includes my wedding and grandmas funeral.

She said I needed to send the solicitor my ID and bank details. She has received her share already and said it would happen within 7 days. My dad refuses to discuss his mother it’s senseless contacting him about this. Even as a child on the rare occasions I spoke to him he told me not to visit her. As I say, they are strange people.

Help. Do I need to forget about this or is there a possibility this isnt all a joke and she can just keep it all her self?

She said I needed to send the solicitor my ID and bank details

Did she give you the solicitors contact details? Have you looked them up to see if the solicitor actually exists?

Contact the solicitor what's the worst that can happen, they say your not in the will. Nothing to loose really is there?

I’d check on line. Probate must have been granted if she’s already had her share, if she left a will, it will be attached to the grant of probate. Costs £1.50 to get a copy.

She didn’t give me the details of the solicitor. I’m sure when she spoke about it last year she said there was no will although she did have a solicitor. I’ll check and see thank you.

I’ve just checked on the gov.uk website and it can’t find any record of probate for her. Is there any other way I can check online?

I’d message the cousin to check if her mum is ok, if you can’t get hold of her tomorrow.

I don’t have any contact with cousin. She has only ever sent me the one message and never responded regarding my visit or when I needed to double check the ward.
The whole lot of them are bloody nightmares and I wouldn’t even bother except it’s a substantial (to me) amount of money even split 5 ways between myself, brother and 3 half siblings.

It’s worth pursuing as what can you lose?
can you go and knock on the door?

@4forksacheno idea where my aunts house is other than the borough in London. I could just keep ringing her I guess but I don’t want to if it’s all been made up.

I genuinely don’t know these people. My DM was a young adult when she married him and has been out of their lives for over 35 years.
I’ve got no desire to start contacting randoms I don’t know but it’s look like there may not be another option.

My dad never paid a penny of maintenance and we’ve never asked for anything from that family ever. Now that I think of it they didn’t buy me a gift for my wedding but asked me to chip in for the funeral. I think she only remembered to tell me grandma was dead when she realised she needed to top funds up

Unless your Dad did a deed of variation, the sum he rejected will not necessarily go to you. The estate will be allocated as if he never existed. So if he was inheriting with someone else, then they will get it all. I can't think he did make a d o v in your favour or you would have had to sign the documents. Unless that's why you are being called to the solicitor. But they will contact you directly, not via family.

If a beneficiary rejects an inheritance it doesn't go to their children though? It goes back into the estate to go between the other beneficiaries?

My mums will was set up so if any of us died before her or if we disclaimed it, it then would go to our children to be evenly distributed. Ops gran maybe had the same clause.

I suspect that she was wrong in thinking that the money would go to you. She has now realised that it's hers and is ghosting you.

I think your aunt has realised this and is regretting contacting you

I thought if one of the beneficiaries rejected the money it goes back into the estate to be split between the other beneficiaries not passed to their dc. Unless there was a clause in the will stating this or your dad did a deed variation saying it was to go to you instead

I agree. My understanding would be that if your Dad rejected the inheritance it won't come to you. But you need to get legal advice on this.

Try calling her from a different number. I bet she'll answer.

"but asked me to chip in for the funeral. I think she only remembered to tell me grandma was dead when she realised she needed to top funds up"

The funeral is paid for from the deceased estate.

How much did you hand over to her?

No this is wrong, if you father rejects it views him as if he were deceased, and then his children inherit

theres no way the aunt could hold onto the money, people think that by the time it’s time to give the money out the family must be over the death but the Aunt is probably reliving all the memories, illness death etc

No this is wrong, if you father rejects it views him as if he were deceased, and then his children inherit

Genuine questoin - can you provide a link for this statement? I've looked and looked and all I can see is that (as others have said) when an inheritance is declined, that share goes back into the pot to be distributed among the others listed in the will. Yes, had the father died before the grandmother then his share would go to his children, but I can't see anything that says the same applies when the father refuses his share. I'm genuinely hoping for the sake of the OP that I'm wrong.

I didn’t pay a penny for the funeral. I said no. Yes I think she has probably realised she can keep it.

I've checked this. If an inheritance is rejected the money goes back into the pot and is shared by the other beneficiaries. However, the person inheriting can complete a deed of variation saying their share is to be distributed amongst x y and z. This must be done and executed within two years of the death.

This is what happens when you let money and inheritance dominate your thinking.

Your family sound untrustworthy and unreliable. You haven't said a single thing in your OP about any affection, memories or sense of warmth towards any of them yet you're chasing around thinking you can get some unearned cash off them.

honestly OP they don't have your best interests at heart, so let it go, have some self respect. I know you could do with the money but at what cost?

What a nightmare family you have!
Can you contact your dad and ask him to do a deed of variation?

This from chatGPT - In the UK, if someone dies without a will (intestate) and a beneficiary rejects their inheritance, what happens to that share depends on who is entitled to inherit under the rules of intestacy.

If someone disclaims (rejects) an inheritance under intestacy:

1. They are treated as if they died before the person who died.
2. Therefore, their share passes according to the intestacy rules, not necessarily to their children unless the rules say so.

Example Scenario:

• A person dies with no will.
• They are survived by two children: Alice and Ben.
• Ben rejects (disclaims) the inheritance.

Then, Ben is treated as if he had died before the parent, and if Ben had children, his share would go to his children (i.e., the grandchildren of the deceased) in equal shares. This is because under intestacy, if a child of the deceased has died but has descendants, their share passes down to their descendants.

Summary:

Yes, if a child of the deceased rejects an inheritance and there are grandchildren, the inheritance usually goes to those grandchildren—it does not go “back into the pot” for redistribution among other siblings.