Estranged family, solicitor trying to find me

[EstrangedAndConfused]

Name changed because this is definitely outing.

I was completely estranged from my father for 32 years before he died in a strange accident.

His other children (weve never met or known about each other) have engaged a solicitor to sue someone in relation to his death.

They've approached some family members who still live locally to try to get in touch with me as the solicitor apparently needs to speak to me regarding the case. They plan to pass on the solicitors details and want me to call them.

Does anyone know what the solicitor might need from me? I really want nothing to do with any of this, for lots of reasons. I doubt there was any inheritance and I wouldn't want any.

I will obviously speak to the solicitor when I can but not sure how long it will take and I'm a bit worried that I'll get dragged into something awful. I'm also a bit curious.

Contacting any of the estranged family members is absolutely out of the question. And I'm in Scotland in case that makes any difference.

When a person dies in an accident, the value of the claim made will be based on the extent to which that person supported any dependants (the dependants are usually the claimants). If the party responsible for the accident (in Scotland they’d be called “the Defender”) settles the claim, they may ask your half siblings to indemnify them against any subsequent claim to be made by you. In other words the Defender may say “OK claimants, you can have x amount. But if Estangedandconfused comes after us later, you have to pay her and cover our legal costs in dealing with her. So the solicitor acting for your half siblings probably wants to understand whether you might have a claim of your own and either invite you to join now or reassure his clients that you have no claim.

That’s my guess.

Whatapiy's theory makes a lot of sense.

It could also be (or include) a simple need to identify children to discuss legal rights entitlement.

The solicitors may be want to check if your a potential beneficiary or rule you out. Sols costs will be paid from the estate. Where family are estranged Sols can be given misinformation to suit certain family members ie we deserve this because that’s what x wanted but legally sols will check who actually should inherit. Sounds like the sols are just carrying out fact checking due diligence.

This isn’t about inheritance though, it’s about making a claim for compensation.

Inheritance is the distribution of the deceased’s assets. This is a potential payment from a third party to compensate his family for the financial impact of his death. In Scotland you can also get an award for the emotional impact, but this is lower if you were estranged.

If the op doesn’t want to engage with the solicitor then they don’t need to contact them I was assuming they posted on an anymous forum as it was out of the ordinary. I was just giving a likely explanation I’m not saying either is right or wrong the solicitors would be party to give clarity to op but that’s only if they do choose to contact them.

I would be inclined to ask the solicitor what they want to talk to you about, then decide what, if anything, you want to discuss with them. In order that you are not railroaded into discussing anything you don't want to discuss, I would ask that question and then say nothing more until you have had chance to reflect/ taken your own legal advice.

Thank you for all the reassuring advice, it's been really helpful and has put my mind at ease.

I will contact the solicitor because that's preferable to being chased by a family I have no wish to ever know. I'm already uncomfortable at the intrusion with other family members and they definitely know my name now so I'd be very easy to find.

As advised, I'll just let the solicitor talk and understand more about what they want/need.

Hope it goes well. You should bear in mind that the solicitor will be acting in the interests of their clients (your half siblings) so he or she will not be able to keep anything you say confidential from his clients. That’s not an obstacle to speaking to him or her, but just be aware that you should only give away facts that you are comfortable with your half siblings knowing. He or she may also be limited in what they can tell you without breaching client confidentiality.

He or she should explain all this to you at the outset of the conversation. If in doubt before you say anything, ask the solicitor to explain what they are going to do with the info.

I was impatient so called the solicitors firm myself on Friday and tracked down the person handling the case. The estranged relative hadn't yet passed on any details.

He confirmed that he hadn't asked anyone to try to get in contact with me or find me, so approaching my relatives was completely unnecessary. He would have found me himself through other methods. He seemed a little frustrated that they had taken it upon themselves to find me.

He has to notify me of the case as a connected person in case I wanted to engage my own solicitor and join the action. I know who is being sued and I find the whole thing morally reprehensible, so that was an easy decision to make.

I made it clear that my details have to stay as private as possible (although that ship has sadly sailed). Other than receiving the official notice of the case, I don't have any other involvement which is a relief.

Thanks for the update. Hopefully you can forget about it now.

Thanks for updating. Think you can rest easy now as the solicitor sounds professional.