In this family tree, who is next of kin? Funeral/inheritance related

[Mykittensmittens]

A relative died last night. Her parents are deceased and she had no children.

For ease I have drawn a diagram (apologies, it’s awful) but it’s easier to show it than explain it.

The person who has died (pink box) has two aunts, both were married. Aunt B has died and leaves a husband still alive and an adult child who has no children. Aunt C is alive, her husband deceased, and she is very elderly and has a POA in place managed by her two children, one of which is an adult with no children. These people are the deceaseds cousins along with the child of Aunt B.

The husband of Aunt B doesn’t feel close enough or involved enough to attend to matters.

Aunt C is not capable.

For transparency, I am on the diagram with a star. The crossed out boxes are deceased relatives. My Mum and her Brother have a lot on their plates dealing with my Grandmother (Aunt C).

To the best of our knowledge, there is no funeral plan, no will. She lived 250 miles from any of the above relations so it’s not an easy job.

So, who is responsible for checking her things, collecting her belongings from hospital for example, looking in her house for paperwork just in case and making sure the house is secure?

Technically we don’t know who her next of kin is? And without a will, who are her beneficiaries in this arrangement?

Who pays for and arranges her funeral?

I’m going to start a shift at work in a bit but will check for any replies later, thank you.

www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

Try this website to help with the interstacy rules.

Looks like it’s your mum and her sister

I think aunt C is her next of kin but if she has no capacity then your mum could assume responsibility. You need to talk to someone about it all. The death registrar may be a good place to start or the undertakers may be able to help you?

The eldest of three adult children of her aunts(her first cousins) is her NoK. That is the person the police/coroner would look to if the death were unexpected and an inquest were needed. That is all NoK is used for really. It doesn’t have legal status to make you a de factor executor of a will or the estate of someone who dies without a will.

Someone in the family needs to check her papers for a will. If there’s a will, then the named executor is responsible and they apply for probate (unless below threshold) with the courts. If there is no will, the family decides who is going to wrap up her affairs and that person applies to the courts to get authorisation. Follow the .gov link @Tibtab posted if there is no will.

In regards to her funeral, her estate pays for her funeral. Typically, family pays for it up front and then are reimbursed from the estate during the phase where all her debts are paid off and her final taxes done prior to distributing any inheritance to beneficiaries.

Yes Aunt C would be NoK if capable, but she’s not so it goes to the next generation which are the Aunts children (first cousins), and of them the eldest is the NoK.

Aunt C and the child of aunt B are entitled to the estate 50/50. The child of aunt B would be the obvious pick to administer the estate,

I'd guess that there is also provision somewhere for Aunt C's children to step in in their mother's place, but it's not my area so I can't say for sure.

I'm sorry for your loss.

I am not a lawyer but if there is no will the law on intestacy will apply. Are you in England? It might be different in other parts of the UK.

Broadly, I believe it goes like this:
Did deceased leave a spouse? (This would include an estranged spouse if they never got a divorce or annulment.)
Did deceased have any children?

If the answer to both of those is no, then next question is: Did deceased have surviving parents?
If the answer to that is no, Did deceased have any siblings (ever)? Are they still alive? If not, did they have children?

If the answer to all of that is no, then the next place to look is deceased's grandparents, and if they have died, what about their children, the deceased's aunts and uncles, and if they've died, what about their children, the deceased's first cousins?

And so on.

In your diagram (which is very clear, btw!) you've shown the relatives you know about, who come from one side of the deceased's family. There must be another side too, from her other parent. Do you know anything about them?

I believe a solicitor in these circumstances might employ a specialist company to trace the family tree to make sure all relatives entitled to a share of the estate get their entitlement.

As for who does the immediate, short-term stuff, if nobody in the family can take it on, I understand the local authority would have to. If your relative owned her own home, they would recover any costs from the eventual sale of the property. They would only arrange a fairly basic funeral to keep costs down.

I don't know if the administrator of an estate (equivalent to executor in cases of intestacy) can claim reasonable expenses from the estate. In a case where the administrator was having to travel hundreds of miles from home and possibly pay for accommodation, it would be harsh if they couldn't. A solicitor could advise.

Good luck!

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g
In your diagram (which is very clear, btw!) you've shown the relatives you know about, who come from one side of the deceased's family. There must be another side too, from her other parent. Do you know anything about them? I believe a solicitor in these circumstances might employ a specialist company to trace the family tree to make sure all relatives entitled to a share of the estate get their entitlement.

Good catch! I totally missed that.

Yes if A's husband had any siblings then they (or their children if deceased) would be equally entitled to a share of the estate along with C and B's child.

Thanks all.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g her dads family are non existent. He had no siblings and therefore no remaining aunts/uncle cousins on that side. Paternal Grandparents long gone.

She never had any children or siblings.

adult childless child of aunt B is very tricky, as he isn’t neurotypical. He is a recluse with significant MH issues, along with ASD. whilst understand this doesn’t preclude him from any inheritance, it does mean he isn’t practically capable of helping much.

So yes she has three first cousins and an Aunt.
Aunt is medically incapable. Youngest cousins is questionable. Cousins 2 and 3 are my Mum and her sibling, my Mum being the eldest.

Aunt C or whoever has capacity for her ie a child of hers.

Is there a will?

@LIZS we don’t know and we can’t access the house until Friday earliest as she lives hundreds of miles from us.

we don’t believe she did. She did talk anecdotally about ‘when I’m gone I’m gone and because I don’t have anyone it doesn’t matter’

If the living aunt does not have capacity then the children of either the deceased aunt or the living aunt take next priority. If they're not able then their children (ie you) would take their place.

If you do find a will then she will have named an executor.

I'm a funeral arranger btw, and this is the hierarchy we follow if all above levels (parents/siblings etc) have been exhausted.

You could try the National Wills Register.

www.nationalwillregister.co.uk

Not all wills are on it, but worth checking.

It's possible she did make a will. Once yoi access the property you will have to sift through every piece of paperwork you find.
It's situations like this that highlight the importance of making a legal will and making your final wishes known.
Good luck!!

I don't think As deceased spouse family (if there were any) would inherit anything

I think it's C. Inherits everything and is next of kin. The husband of aunt B is not a blood relative and because B is dead she (and therefore her dependents) can't inherit.

There aren’t any per the OP, but if there were they would because A’s spouse is the deceased’s father. So his relatives are as related to the deceased as much as the deceased’s mothers relatives (OPs side of the family).

Being mentally incompetent does not exclude you from inheriting. So whoever is managing the POA will manage the inheritance.

It might differ outside England, but in England with no will B & C inherit equal 50/50 shares. As B has predeceased the deceased, B’s children inherit equal shares of B’s 50%.

Following, sorry for your loss.

@Discovereads Been a long time since I studied law a level!

I guess we just have to go there asap and look. This isn’t going to be fun but nothing else can be done until we ascertain if she did leave any will.

i’m desperately hoping she did and just hasn’t said. She purchased her current hour outright 10 years ago - surely her solicitor would have advised her to do this?