What are my son's rights to inheritance?

[Toocleverbyhalf2]

I have been separated from my ex husband for 7 years ( not divorced) and have a 10 year old son with him.
My FIL died in February and left me £5,000, which was a surprise and very much appreciated. There was other money from the estate, property and investments, that are about to be paid out. My ex and his sister are the beneficiaries. Initially there was about £50,00 each, but now it's about £35,000 as the property didn't sell for as much as they hoped. My ex said he would settle £15,000 on my son for when he's 21.

My ex is now saying he's settling nothing on our son & is using the money for a car and to live on. He's an alcoholic who doesn't work and is claiming benefits, as am I. In the past I've never had any regular maintenance but have had lump sums here and there as my ex has been given money by his dad. This'll be the last of any money from his dad and I'm really pissed off that he's keeping it all to himself and not maintaining my son in any way. I don't know what to, I don't want the money for myself, but for my son & I can't afford to take him to court.
Any advice on what to do?

Grabbygrabby - he is truly awful lol

Chips and peas - I've spoken to a solicitor today & she thinks it's best to contact the CSA, which I've done. It seems that not a lot can be done until the money goes into his account as I don't have any proof that he's getting this money i.e. Solicitors letter.

Thanks for all replies, you've stiffened my resolve to get this sorted lol.

He is claiming benefits with £35k in the bank??

Oh wait I just saw he doesn't have it yet, Ignore my reply

Issue divorce proceedings and put in a financial claim pronto. Also make a CSA application asap, while he's got the funds. Don't know if you can claim retrospectively but I'm sure someone on here will know the answer to that one.

Filing the court papers yourself is so cheap, if you receive certain benefits you don't have to pay the court fee!!!

You may well be able to claim on his inheritance...

I always thought anyone can contest a will.

"Filing the court papers yourself is so cheap, if you receive certain benefits you don't have to pay the court fee!!!"

Oh, I didn't know that. Please look into it, OP.

This is the Government Get a Divorce site.

And then This is the bit that covers getting help with paying court fees. If you scroll down towards the bottom there is an eligibility calculator on there that should help.

I'll bet you can't wait to be completely shot of him.

I don't want to sound off or anything but WHY does everyone think the son and even the ex wife (I know separated not divorced, though in the divorce things are split at time of separation anyway) has any right to the inheritance? Why should the contest it? Just because the guy is a dick doesn't mean he should not be allowed his inheritance from his own father. I don't see why it should be contested. If my father died and left me money I would be flabbergasted if my child then tried to take that, or at least a share of it. Yes the right thing for him to do would be to see his son alright, but it is HIS money to do as he pleases. The sons inheritamce time is when HIS father and or mother passes

Why should the state financially support a child when their parent has money in the bank???? Doesn't matter why a parent has money they have a responsibility to financially support their own dependent child!!!!

Why should the state financially support a child when their parent has money in the bank?. Come on, that's a maintenance issue between the OP and her child's father.

Meadows76 - the reason why I'm asking is because, in the 7 years we've been separated, he hasn't paid any money for his child that didn't come from his dad. He's financially responsible for his child and, as his dad is now dead, there will be no money ever again. His dad gifted £5k, so I don't want the money for myself.
If he's not prepared to pay an ongoing amount of maintenance, then he should settle some money on him for his future. I hope that clears that up.

Yes thats all well and good random but some Fathers simply refuse to do so. This is why the OP is asking for advice here.

Thankyou sptownmama, that was my point. That bastard has put me through hell, domestic and sexual violence, and I personally don't want a penny from me. However, why should my son suffer? The reason why I haven't divorced him is because he has a pension, a small one, and when he left his job he was such a mess with the drink that the rehab he went to didn't think he'd live very long. At the time, his dad told me that if he died my son would inherit the money. As he didn't die, obviously the money goes to the ex, which I don't dispute, but he promised my son he would settle £15,000 then changed his mind and said he was going to keep it. He is using this money as a weapon & ive had enough. I don't want his poxy pension, I just want my son to have something ( not £15k) because he won't get anything else & his grandad wanted him to have it.
He's still drinking, he can only have supervised access to my son ( when he bothers) & pays nothing. It's a mess

Indeed Sptownmama, if an absent parent has money then I feel the parent with care has the right to a claim on it whether it is inherited or not. Just because it has been inherited rather than earned why should it not be used to financially support their own offspring.

I have no concept of why some people think inherited money should be exempt from taxes etc.

Me too random, especially as he'll buy a car then drive it drunk and put someone at risk, but hey ho, it's his money whilst his child is going without ...............

It sounds very stressful op and i hope you can get something for your son out of all this.

Tooclever I really hope you get something from this and stop him buying a car

Thankyou

* update

This situation is going from bad to worse. The ex has been on a bender now for a couple of weeks, drunk from morning till night. He phoned me and told me that the "gift" from the FIL wasn't a gift at all, apparently he didn't want me to have anything because he didn't like me ( news to me, I always got on ok). Ex also told me that his sister is annoyed that he gave me that money too because it was money from a savings account and was supposed to me used to sort out the property ready to sell. It's on a lease and there have been ongoing expenses until it was sold. The SIL phoned and had a right go at me about having the money & told me that she knew that I'd never get any maintenance from the day I got pregnant. She was quite nasty & im really upset. I've told the ex that I don't ever want any of his dad's money ever & that I've gone to the CSA. Then I got a load of abuse so I hung up.
He's done a number on me again, all because he gets drunk and causes trouble between his sister and me. Why do I keep getting caught up in this?

It's not so easy to stay clear when you have a child with someone.

I know, but this is making me ill