Shocked at ex Fil's will

[coffeerevelsrock]

I have just downloaded a copy of my ex Fil's will as my ex is currently avoiding paying CMS and I wanted to find out exactly how much he has inherited. There are a couple of things I find shocking and/or puzzling and wondered if anyone could possibly explain.

Firstly, ex was the sole inheritor. Not that shocking except he has a sister. However, she is severely disabled so maybe she had 'her share' at some earlier point. The thing that shocks me is that if ex had died before his father, the entire amount (just under £200k) would have gone to charity. I know that's now irrelevant as that didn't happen. but I am so taken aback that he would have left nothing to his two grandsons, especially as in that case they would have lost their father at a young age. It has really unsettled me for some reason. Why would someone do that? They saw him fairly regularly and one in particular had a real bond and shared a number of interests with him.

The other potentially weird thing is that on the grant of probate, it states the full amount of the estate. It is a specific sum and pretty much matches the amount ex paid for a house outright months after the death, which obviously makes sense. However, I am sure that this can't be the full amount of the estate as fil had a sold a much bigger property than the one he lived in until his death just a few years before. There must have been money left from that. He also would have had savings on top as well. He was staid and sensible, was retired from a professional career and had quite ill-health in his last few years, though it was not bad enough to need care. There's no way he blew £200k in a few years. Also, the flat he lived in until his death is not showing under sold house prices, despite having been sold shortly after his death last summer.

I know it's none of my business but I am convinced ex has more money from this somehow. He's given up work and signed on (hence no CMS), has gone on two longish holidays (albeit not lavish ones) and took the dc for a few nights in a hotel last autumn which he has NEVER done in 8 years of us splitting. I'm convinced he has somehow come into more money than he says but is there any way this could have happened, presumably before Fil's death or via his sister?

Sounds like he's living off hidden money doesn't it?

How utterly nasty is it to quit work to avoid financially supporting your own children:what a massive POS he is.

Just thinking out loud and not legally trained but is it possible fil set a trust up a few years before he died ?

Then that wouldn't form part of the estate but ex husband and sister could be benefiteries ?

Could the rest have been set up as a trust for the sister before he died?

If his sister is severely disabled and unable to work then getting a large inheritance could affect some of her benefits. Some like PIP are not affected, but others would stop. If your exFIL was aware of this he would most likely have set up a trust fund for her. This would mean her regular benefits could continue.

Just send the copy of the will off to CSA. Mention he may be committing benefit fraud too. They will investigate.

When was his will written?

Unless his will predates the children then yes, it's very weird to leave it all to charity & none to them.

If the flat was sold after his death it really doesn't all seem peculiar, except maybe the flat was bought in EXH or his sisters name...

Still doesn't account for cash in the bank though....

I wonder, given his 'out of work, no CSA' malarkey if you have any way of a solicitor digging into this.

Obviously up to Ex FIL what he's done with his money/property, but if Ex is hiding it, & not contributing financially to his children then I'd go hard at getting to the bottom of his fuckwittery!!

I'd find a GOOD solicitor.

Trust fund for sister to protect benefits entitlement sounds very plausible.

On the money going to charity if ex pre-deceased FIL: that might not be as it seems at first sight. Depending on the precise wording, if you leave money to your child under English law then it will often automatically pass to their children or grandchildren if your child pre-deceases you, even if the will doesn't explicitly say so.

As per others - my initial thoughts were that his savings, and potentially property, were transferred by him into a trust for his disabled daughter before he died. That could have been a deliberate action on his part to reduce his estate but also to ensure he set up the trust and selected the trustees, and didn't rely on his wayward son to do so.

FIL has probably set up a trust for disabled daughter, and before he died he diverted assets into it.
He may also have done the same for Ex.

He didn't want you to get the money, that's why he didn't want to leave it to the grandchildren if his son died first. Even if he had put it in trust until they were 25 they could have still bought you a Lamborghini.

He may have given his son large monetary gifts before his death. He may have given him the house he lived in. He might have had to pay 40% inheritance tax on some of these gifts.

Thanks all - trust for sil makes perfect sense and I hadn't considered that at all. I suppose that could account for the 'missing' money and mean that ex isn't hiding anything after all. I suppose there is no way to find out for sure as it really does seem ex has some spare cash...

@SavoyCabbage

He didn't want you to get the money, that's why he didn't want to leave it to the grandchildren if his son died first. Even if he had put it in trust until they were 25 they could have still bought you a Lamborghini.

This ^^

(and I do agree there is a strong likelihood of a trust to financially support the sister). I wouldn't be going to a solicitor for this. It will cost you a lot (most qual sol rates are £200 per hour plus vat).

Cash. Under the mattress cash.

The will could predate the birth of his grandchildren.

Potentially there is a trust for your children too that your ex knows about but that you haven't been told about as well as one for SIL especially if the property was sold before death.

@Bangkokbaby

If his sister is severely disabled and unable to work then getting a large inheritance could affect some of her benefits. Some like PIP are not affected, but others would stop. If your exFIL was aware of this he would most likely have set up a trust fund for her. This would mean her regular benefits could continue.

This will very most likely have happened..... I guess FIL didn’t want any chance of the money coming to you maybe? Did you not get on?

Regardless of the will your ex is a twat. He's potentially living mortgage free and not working therefore shirking his parental responsibilities. Disgusting.

I don't think its your business to be honest other than a payment for cm for your dc. It sounds like provisions were made for his disabled dd and rightly so. You dc were not required to get any cash from their grandfather. Some people want it direct to their own dc others to the next generation skipping their dc in the progress.

Are you sure in the event of his death it passes to charity? Is s33 of the Wills Act 1837 excluded? Or is there a contrary intention in the Will? How is it worded?

Going back a bit, law degree almost 20 years ago, but back then it was possible to do a "secret will" within a will. It's how many men could leave inheritances for secret children/mistresses etc and it not appear in the published will.

No way of tracking it as far as I know.

The problem is you are guessing at the amount you think your FIL had from the previous house sale before he bought the house he died in.

He may have had a large mortgage on the house he sold - or other debts and loads which needed paying off. He may have transferred money to trusts for his children or bought things for them outright.

Ha, like others say he doesn't want you having any!

My parents would be mortified at the thought of their inheritance passing to my ex. As would I. In my will a portion of rental income will be made available to ex for our daughters upbringing then she will inherit at 21 so she can spend it as she likes.

I totally get it though. I am sure my ex's parents would be equally horrified if I was to inherit whatever they have if ex passed away. They would rather than money passed to charity too.

However, I am sure that this can't be the full amount of the estate as fil had a sold a much bigger property than the one he lived in until his death just a few years before.

After the sale of the bigger property he probably gifted the excess to your ex and/or his sister as I way the avoid the money being taken in care fees in the event he needed to go into a home.

So to answer a couple of questions, the will is dated about a year ago, so approximately 6 months before his death. I would assume it is a new will in that case and presumably has been changed to account for the trust it seems likely he would have set up for sil.

In terms of the wording of the bit about it going to charity, it says:

'If there are no are no surviving beneficiaries as aforesaid (ex is named above as getting 100% of the residual estate) then I give my residual estate to any Uk company, body or trust established for charitable purposes only as my trustees shall nominate.'

The only trustee is ex. Reading it through now, I think I leapt on the reference to charity but maybe that means it all goes into SIL's trust and/or a separate one that is in place for the dc? That would make sense.

I can understand him not wanting me to get any money, but I wouldn't, would I, if it was set aside until the dc were 18? I did get on with him but have only seen him once since the divorce, which I don't think is unusual when families split. Ex was unfaithful to me and has been a total disaster with money all his adult life. I would have thought his family, no matter what he tells them, would be well aware that I am the sole financial provider for their grandchildren and that any money they want them (the dgcs) to have is a lot safer with me than with ex!

It's not my business to an extent, but it is when he is paying nothing for his dc and potentially has cash that he is sitting on and not declaring. I also wish he would tell me if the dc have money set aside for them. If that comes to them when they are 18, it takes the pressure off me a bit in terms of uni costs. Not that I would then expect them to self-fund, but it just eases the mental load as I would know that is there to fall back on if needed. I still wonder what has happened to fil's flat as well.

My dm seems to think that accounts with less then £50k in them don't have to go through probate and that as ex was the sole executor he would be able to get hold of any savings under £50k easily like that. Does anyone know if that is true?