How to find out if I have been left something in a will?

[Monr0e]

I'm sorry if this sounds grabby, I'm really not trying to be.

Back story is my DDad passed away at the beginning of October. I live in a different country and have done all my life but we were close and had a good relationship and he was a fantastic grandad to my DC's.

He had a long term partner who sadly passed away 18 months previously. She had 3 adult children who were all late teenagers when they met who have gone on to have DC's of their own and who were also considered his grandchildren. The youngest daughter lived local to my DDad and he was very involved in her day to day life, I'll call her Mary. When Dad passed Mary made all the arrangements for the funeral including all the decisions which I only found out about after the fact.

Since the funeral I have not heard anything from anyone until yesterday when my dads sister called me. She has apparently been asking Mary for my number for the last 4 weeks (she has this but never passed it on) and she tracked my down through Facebook instead. My Aunt told me that Mary has said that his will has now been sorted and she wanted to see how I was and enquire if myself or my DC's had been left anything in the will. I told her she was the first person I had heard from and that I had had no further contact with Mary since the funeral and that I had not been informed if I had been left anything so presumed I hadn't. My Aunt was quite annoyed at this as I am his only biological child however Mary has taken over all his affairs and no one else has been informed of the contents of his will.

I have no idea how these things work but would it be possible to see if I was mentioned in the will? Would Mary for example be able to sell his house and split the proceeds between herself and her siblings and leave me out even if I was mentioned without me knowing?

To be honest I had come to terms with the fact he probable wrote the will while his partner was still alive and would not have been surprised if it was split between her 3 DC's however I am quite hurt that after all this time he has left out my DC's so would like to know for definite if this is the case. Thank you

You can order a cooy of his will online. Sorry for your loss

He wasn't married to his partner and anyway, she's died.

If he hasn't written a Will then you inherit everything.

Mary needs to provide you with a copy of the Will. Why not phone her and ask to see it? You have every right to do that. In fact she has no actual rights whatsoever, so all she can rely on is the Will. I would get onto it immediately.

Given the circumstances, there's no way your dad left you out of the Will. No way at all.

I think Mary is trying to pull a fast one.

You need to see that will ! . His former partner's daughter is not related to him - don't let her railroad you out of your inheritance.

Even if she is named as the trustee of the will, she still has to abide by everything he wrote. I suspect that you might need to speak to a lawyer . Good luck.

Gov.UK Search for a will, you can apply for this online.

Thank you everyone, it has been a difficult time and this morning has brought up a lot of emotion again.

HolyCoMoly - do you know how I would go about that? I really have no experience of these things.

HollowTalk, prior to his passing my dad apparently confirmed to his nephew, my Aunt's son, that he had a will. I know this would have been written while his partner was still alive which is why I believe everything would have been left to her 3 DC's. She was joint owner of their home which is pretty much his only asset unless he had a substantial amount of savings which I very much doubt, he was a painter and decorator and did not live an extravagant life.

I'd like to think he would have at least split things fairly, a four way split between her 3 and me however I have no idea. I never lived with him and he never raised me however he did live with his partners DC's even though they were older. It very much feels as if they have claimed him as their DDad and I have pretty much been sidelined. Although we never had a relationship separate from my DDad and I only met them a handful of times I thought Mary would have kept me informed.

I feel very unsure about contacting her although I know I have every right to. I have no idea how I would word that message without it sounding like me asking for money from them. I would much rather go through official channels. If he did leave the house to them could they just sell and split the funds? Would this need to go through a solicitor and if he has left Mary as executor is there any way of finding out? I am currently a full time student and in no way capable of hiring a solicitor myself at this time.

Thank you again for your help

Why was it left to Mary to deal with everything? What were you doing meanwhile??

You need to grow a pair and stand up for yourself. Mary isn’t even related to your dad yet she had full control of everything.

Type in Gov.UK and then put in Search for a will. Follow the link and all you need to do is type in his surname and year of death. It will then list all the people who have died in the name, click on the one you want. It will say either probate, will or probate and will. I would apply for both if they are available. It will take to to proceed to checkout, it's 10 pounds, it gets sent to your email account and stays there for a month but you can print a copy off yourself and keep it. If there is no Will then he would have died intestate, there are strict inheritance rules around this and you are his only surviving child, you can look this up on line with the same gov.uk site, it lists who inherits.

You will need to check on the gov website as above, however if there is no grant of Probate you won't be able to get a copy of the will. The will only becomes public once there is Probate. Probate will be needed if your dad had any property in his name or any major savings etc. If you look on the website and can't find anything you can submit a 'search' which will notify you if probate is granted within the next 6 months. You can also lodge a caveat which will prevent Probate being granted if you intend on contesting any will. If no Probate is required I am afraid there's not much to do with regards to seeing a copy of a will. If you are not named as executor you will not be entitled to see a copy so if you contact any solicitors firms, they won't be obliged to tell you if a will has been made with them. You'd just have to do your own digging to find out if any gifts had been made and then seek legal advice. Is it possible there is no will?

Here's a ink to the page you need probate search

If they owned the house jointly it would pass to her by survivorship irrespective of a will or the rules of intestacy.

Brilliant advice, thank you

I don't think I have it in me to contest anything, I would just like to know for definate then move on I guess.

KERALA1 he owned the house with his partner who died 18 months ago, do you mean it would pass to Mary automatically or did you mean his partner?

If he died at the beginning of October it is still relatively early for Probate to be granted, it can take a while. If I was you I would check if it's been granted, if not submit a search to be notified and in the meantime get a copy of the title to the property from the land registry website (hopefully it's registered) to confirm who's name it is held in and how it's held (I.e. how a property is held can override what is written in a will anyway). If the property is now just in your dad's name, Probate will definitely be required to dispose of property.

Sorry, meant to say, Ddad lived in Northern Ireland, not sure if that changes things in terms of the will search eye

Ahhh. Different jurisdiction, that website will apply to England and Wales and the advice. Not too sure about Ireland, you probably are best trying to get a free initial consultation with a lawyer there to briefly chat it through and get some pointers.

Maybe contact the N.i. Probate office, it's online or seek legal advice, do you have someone at uni who could help.

Thank you very much everyone

I have spoken to the probate office in NI, he said it's a bit early yet but it's possible to search on their website for a fee to see if his will is in probate and if it is I can request a copy

I think I will leave it a few months then search and find out one way or another. Thank you again.

No, OP, don't wait a few months. If you are due something then that could disappear within a few months. You're not being greedy; you need to check that your father's wishes have been met. You should do it as soon as you can.

It's a £24 fee every time you apply to do a search even if it hasn't been submitted yet so I wanted to wait a couple of months as the guy at probate said it usually takes this long.

I've been a bit sneaky though. Well, I'm looking into things. I've put an alert on rightmove so I'll know if his house is put on the market which is pretty much his only asset. If it does go on I'll know the will is in probate and I'll be able to read what it says before it is sold.

My Aunt in NI is also trying to find out and will let me know if she finds out anything

Can I ask though, if Mary is the executor and I have been named is there any kind of checks on her to make sure all the benefactors receive what has been bequeathed to them? Or can she just divvy things up as she sees fit?

Thank you again everyone, I really appreciate it

Might be worth doing a cheap search of the NI land registry to check whether the house was in your DF’s sole name at his death.
www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/searching-the-land-registry

I’m sorry for your loss, and hope this is sorted out amicably.

I don’t think there’s any real checks. The onus is on her to do the right thing but unless someone questions it then she can get away from it.

Executor theft can and does happen.

OP, why don't you ring Mary, thank her for all the work she's been doing sorting out your Dad's affairs, and let her know that you are expecting to do some of the work too? Clearing a house, dealing with a the paperwork, executing a will etc is a shitload if work. I can't imagine she's over the moon to be saddled with it. Ask what she's done and then you can do other bits. As you are far away, you could do a lot of the ringing round jobs, for instance. Then it's not a question of you sitting there wondering if she's pulling a fast one. (Not that anything to do with probate is fast!)