Dad has passed and no will in place. Advice welcome

[LucyintheSky21]

Hi

I wondered if anyone could advise me (for my mother really), just a bit of general advice. Very tragically my DF passed just a few weeks ago, it was unexpected and we are all absolutely heartbroken. My poor DM unfortunately has so many formalities and legal matters to deal with, which is just awful when she’s feeling so low without my DF. This is the worst situation that could have ever happened, my DF meant so much to all of us and he was my DM’a life. Unfortunately neither of my parents had put any will in place and my DM is trying to get her finances etc in place and has things like shares etc to sort out. I know she will need proper legal advice but she has spoken to someone today and has been told that due to the absence of there being a will in place that all of their joint assets might not automatically all fall to her and that some may need to be divided between me and my sibling. I am not happy about this as I don’t want anything and won’t accept anything as I am too upset and I just want my DF to be here with us and I think it makes no sense at all for me of my sibling to receive any money. It should all go to my DM as that’s what my DF would have wanted and it’s correct as far as I’m concerned, their money and assets etc are theirs. It makes no sense to me but my DM has been told that she might have to deal with this if it is the case. Can anyone please clarify in a simple way if this is correct or can it all just go to my DM and she can then do a will? At the end of the day, this is a heartbreaking situation that we are all in as a family and yes they should have had a will in place but as they haven’t you’d just expect (or I would just expect that it all goes to my DM). If anyone does have to go to me and my sibling, I would be returning it to my DM as it does not feel right. I don’t want my DM to be any financially worse off and whatever they had or there is left is there for my DM to live off and I really don’t want and can’t accept anything .

If anyone has been in a similar situation or if there are any legal people who can give a little advice I would really appreciate it. I’m asking for my DM as she asked me if there is any way of finding out.

Many thanks in advance.

Hi again
I just want to make sure that I’m understanding this correctly that anything in joint names all goes to my mum. And that it’s literally a case of adding up anythhh that’s in my dad’s sole name that matters and if that comes to over £270k which it doesn’t. Or are we saying add up half of the jointly owned house and half the rented house that has just been sold and add up anything else that’s just his. I thought that the two houses in this case are not included as they are jointly owned. Please can someone clarify that.
Also please can someone explain the inheritance tax? Is this something that my mum need to pay and how is this worked out? I really wish they had a will in place as my mum has all this to sort out and we don’t understand any of it. My poor mum is struggling to cope without my dad and having this financial messy stuff on top makes it all so much harder. Any further advice greatly appreciated and thank you again in advance.

There are two ways of jointly owning a property - joint tenants and tenants in common. It is important to find out which way each property was owned. Any property owned as joint tenants automatically goes to your mother and does not form part of your father's estate. However, if either property was owned as tenants in common, half of the equity for that property (i.e. the value of the property less any mortgage) goes into your father's estate.

Inheritance tax is paid by the estate. If the estate is worth less than £325k there is no inheritance tax to pay. Also, anything your mother inherits does not count towards the value of the estate for inheritance tax purposes. From the information you have posted, there is no inheritance tax to pay so you can ignore your friend.

Inheritance between married couples, ie anything that your mother inherits from your father, is completely free of inheritance tax.

When your mother dies and leaves her estate to you and your siblings, her estate should have a tax free allowance of a million pounds (325,000 allowance of her own, 325,000 unused allowance rolled over from your father's estate and 350,000 family home allowance) . If the total value of both houses and any savings is likely to be noticeably more than that then it might be worth thinking about tax planning but taking a share from your father's estate now has no benefit.

Given the trauma and necessary paperwork it’s really worth hiring a solicitor to sort all these things out so that you have space and time to grieve. Yes it will take maybe a couple of thousand pounds out of the estate but it sounds like this will not leave your DM short of money/assets and will take a whole load off her (and your) shoulders. You could also instruct the solicitor as a matter of urgency to draft a Will for your mum.

And PLEASE bang the drum with your whole family and friends and anyone that will listen to get a Will drawn up whatever age they are - if we’ve learned anything these past 2 years is that life is short and it’s a kindness to those we will leave behind to make sure the necessary admin is as pain free as possible after we die

Does your mother have a will? If not, you might want to encourage her to get one drawn up once she's sorted everything out.

I'd just get a probate solicitor. It's such a stressful situation anyway when a loved one passes without adding to the stress of trying to understand complicated financial matters too.