Scots law on inheritance

[K1mberly]

My mother, from who I am estranged, died some months ago . I have received a letter from her solicitor asking if I wish to make a claim on her estate, which I do .

The letter states that I need to consult a solicitor . Is that really the case , or can I handle it myself ? The inheritance will be small and I really don't want to fritter it away on unnecessary legal costs .

I strongly suspect that there IS a will and that I have NO right in it, although I have not been told this .

I understand it, my legal right is to one sixth of her movable estate ( I have one brother and her husband is still alive ) . Is that correct ?

Does her solicitor have to advise me if I have any right under the will? It's not mentioned in the letter .

In the unlikely event that I am mentioned in the will , I think that I have to choose between that and my legal right - is that correct? .

So if it's just a question of - she left you £1000 under her will or your legal right is £5000, why do I need a solicitor ?

What is the duty of her solicitor , in cases like this ?

How would I benefit from instructing my own solicitor ?

[K1mberl1]

Value of the house - it's " all and whole the subjects known as [ address ] - estimated valuation " . So I'm assuming she owned the whole house . Doesn't say who made the estimate. I know it's heritable, but I thought it was odd that it was approx one third of the actual value .

The will leaves the use of the house to my father ( who survives her ) and then on his death to a grand child ( not one of my children ).

Furniture and personal effects - I'm not sure what you mean by " the second value " , rangirl ? She has no valuable antiques , just the usual household furniture . I guess I was thinking of the amount you might insure for eg £20k, ( replacement cost) . Whereas what you might sell for could easily only be £1k. I never thought you might have to pay to have it taken away .

Legal fees - they included post, incidentals, VAT and outlays. Now I read it more carefully I see that although total fees are over £6k , only £5.5k is chargeable against legal rights fund. Though it still seems a lot for winding up an estate ( one marriage , one house , two adult children , no dependents , no occupational pension , one bank account , no life insurance ) .

Rangirl - am I entitled to breakdown of the fees or to query them , given that I am not the client ? They have already been audited , so I thought that was that.

I fear I may have to get legal advice - thanks for your suggestion about asking for a fixed fee. I may only need advice and not need them to act for me In terms of writing letters and dealing with the other solicitors etc . I guess that would keep down the fees . Im planning to put the money in ISAs for my children - I know it's not very much so I'll be annoyed with myself if I fritter away any of it unnessarily .


Deo Gratias - I'm not a dependent but I'm entitled to a share under scots law, which allows me one sixth of the gross movable estate less expenses . I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your father and how much work it was to sort out the estate .

Thank you both for your comments .

[AnthonyBlanche]

Kimerl1 That is odd then re the value of the house. To be honest I wouldn't bother getting your own legal advice which you will have to pay for - especially as you are not going to benefit from the house. Fee rates vary enormously between firms of solicitors, so £6k including vat isn't necessarily a ridiculous amount. £6K including VAT doesn't get you that many hours in my firm.

Even if you get the fee reduced a little bit, that will likely be offset by the fee you have paid out of your own pocket.

[K1mberl1]

I'm glad it's not just me who thinks that the house value but is odd, I did wonder if they were up to something but I have no idea what !!! I wondered if it was about keeping it under a certain figure to do with inheritance tax, as she has not left the house to her spouse but to her grandchild ?

Though as you say, it won't be benefit me anyway.

Re fees - the firm is just a local one in a small country town, I dread to think what they would be in a large city firm for winding up a complex estate.

[Rangirl]

Sorry about poor typing on phone By second I meant second hand value which is virtually nothing

Re fees as you say they have already been audited by which I assume means taxed by the Auditor of court then you would struggle to have these reduced and even if you did you would only benefit by 1/6th of that amount

[PrimalLass]

BTW, the rise in value is probably more like 30% from 2007 to 2015, with a large part of that coming from a surge in the last year.

www.ros.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/18668/RoS_10_Year_PM_report.pdf

But I'm gobsmacked, as I didn't think prices had really gone up at all (I live in a small village bubble).

[K1mberl1]

rangirl yes I do mean taxed, I have the audit certificate .

Primal lass - thanks for the link, that's very helpful . In that case I may have over estimated the value of the house , it may well be only £450k.

I've never had to wind up anyone's estate before - well only DS but as he was a child there was little to do- so perhaps I am under estimating the work involved and over estimating the value of things .

And because they have behaved so badly in the past, I am suspicious about everything they say and do , when perhaps it's all straightforward .

[Stewart1963]

HI my gran died and left us money in her will but legal rights fund took a lot what is legal rights fund and do we receive it back thanks

[Possibility13]

I and my brothers had a very traumatic time when it came to light that myself and my brothers had no legal rights to the inheritance from our family home of 46 years....this passed to my stepdad and then immediately to his children who he had no relationship with in the last 15 years. The sum of £120.000 was split between 3 instead of 6 which was a shock, but it’s the devastation it leaves behind, not the money ......the fact that the so called Scottish law does not have your back in these circumstances. The lack of power totally devastated us all. Just wondered if anyone else had any similar issue with step family Inheritance Law? Thanks 🙏 for reading.

[user1487194234]

Possibility I assume your mother either didn't leave a Will or did leave a Will and bequeathed the house to your step dad
In step family situations it is particularly important to make a Will as otherwise your children can be disinherited,apart from their legal rights