So, I'm not too sure what to do about my current predicament. Really sorry for the length, didn't want to drip feed. I'm in Scotland, if that also makes a difference.
A relative recently passed away. We are a small family with me being the youngest.
Due to family drama which isn't relevant, my relative didn't speak with the rest of our family for over a decade. I was a child when all of this happened, however prior to this I was close with the relative.
We assumed that he would've wrote a will, ensuring his estate didn't come to us. I looked around his house and even phoned all the solicitors in his town to see if they had anything. However none of them did.
I eventually found a safe in his house and even more surprisingly, found the key for it. Amongst other documents was a drafted will, which wasn't signed or witnessed, which left everything to charity. It referenced a solicitor in a different town, so we contacted them and they did have a will, just not the one that had been drafted. It was an earlier will, early 90s, which detailed my two remaining family members as sole beneficiaries.
Now, neither of my family members want anything from the estate and they've asked me to take it. It's a life changing amount of money for us, around 200k we think including the house. I have decided though that if the money does in fact come to me, I will put a large portion towards charity in his name. There was also a section in the drafted will giving a friend of his an amount of money and I would also want to honour this.
Now, I feel we've done everything we can to locate a current will. Part of me feels that he copied my Grandmother's will to get the wording right, with plans to get it to a solicitor, but he just never did. Part of me thinks there could be a will, I just don't know where to look. I'm concerned that if I take the inheritance and some years down the line a new will does in fact crop up, that I'm going to be chased for money that we potentially won't have anymore (we were thinking about putting an extension on the back of the house).
If we do accept the money, can it be taken back from us if a will does appear later on down the line? Would we end up in debt if money had been spent?
It's a very weird situation. I'm mourning the relationship of a relative who I wish I'd made contact with as an adult. I feel as if I'm not worthy of the inheritance because I wasn't there for him, but it would also change our lives. I'm so concerned that if I accept, that it'll be all taken back later on.