Please help - partner died no will

[TheAgileDuck]

Hi All, I would really appreciate your help. My partner of 12 years died over Christmas. He was very ill and I was his carer (unofficially he didn’t claim carers allowance etc) We have lived together for 8 years in his fully paid for house. He has two children who he has not seen for 10 + years and other relatives still alive but again not spoken to in a very long time years and years.

he has died with no will. His family are asking me to leave the house I have called my home for 8 years as we were not married and I wasn’t paying any rent/maintenance officially. He always verbally promised me that I could stay in the house if he passed away until I died or if I choose to leave 30% of the value of house and rest to his children. However it turns out there is no will so none of the above is official.

do I have any right to stay in the house? Please note I am not on bills. I also have no other savings, so if I was kicked out I would effectively be made homeless. I haven’t worked in 8 years as his health was extremely poor and I looked after him and he had enough money to cover all bills.

I am not after any money from his bank accounts, his expensive jewellery and watches just a small bit of what was promised to me for so long. I have no money saved so getting a solicitor I think will be last resort but guessing it might have to be done.

I am totally devastated by his loss but also now by this situation which has come as such a shock after thinking I had some safety for my future.

please help if anyone has any advice

many thanks

TheAgileDuck I do know of a person who was not legally entitled to inherit but was awarded the house so it is possible. Don’t move out.

Just a thought but as your partner said he’d written a Will have you looked everywhere? It couldn’t be lodged with his bank ? A solicitor? Have you found any paperwork relating to a Will writing company or a legal firm?

Every time I read a thread on here about wills, it still amazes me that there isn't a simple system of registering every will, and therefore by default a system whereby you can easily get hold of the will once a person dies, knowing it is the latest registered will.

Why don't you have wills? It's very simple, you can do it free online, it's looked over by legal professionals, and if approved, it's emailed to you to print out and sign. We did ours through Marie Curie, we left them a donation but you're not obliged to although obviously they hope you will.

Please, think it over - it's so much simpler when you have a will!

Op i really hope you are able to get a claim on his estate.
You must be having really mixed feelings did he use and abuse you or did he really intend to sort a will.

It must be leaving a bitter memory in amongst your grief. Fingers crossed you get something sorted and eventually get councilling

Good luck op.

You poor soul. I hope the solicitor on her will be able to help and you can get a share.

How awful for you. I'm sorry for your loss. 💐

www.judge-priestley.co.uk/site/services/individuals/wills-trusts-and-probate/inheritance_act_disputes/

With this attitude to unpaid carers is it any wonder that more and more family members are refusing to do it.

Hope you have got provision for your old age because i doubt any relative you are eyeing up for your care would see that as a fair exchange

I am sorry for your loss OP
Do you know if DP had a pension?

That’s not going to help with other assets, regardless of “intention”. Make wills.

I have not looked through much of this thread, however would give consideration to the following;

Your late partner presumably had capacity, yet by dying intestate as is presumed, he was content for his children to inherit his estate, otherwise he would have made some provision for you in the form of his will.

I think the crucial piece of missing information was why your partner and his family were estranged. Or was he possibly in contact with them without your knowledge.

You lived for many years with your partner without paying rent, a mortgage and possibly bills. During this time you provided him with his care needs. It would be a strong argument that you must have been aware of your precarious financial position yet did not formalise the details by either getting married or writing your wills.

A 1975 Act claim would have merit as you fulfil the criteria of the act in that you cohabited for more than 2 years as though spouses, a claim does need to be made within 6 months from the grant of probate or if no will letters of administration, save for any exceptional reasons when this can be varied but it is very rare for the court to agree to this. The onus will be on you to prove your need, reasonable necessary provision for your needs would be the aim, not to be confused with your previous standard of living. Consideration would also be given as to your own ability to provide for yourself and the position of the beneficiaries, if they are all adults do any have additional needs which need to be addressed.

A 1975 Act claim is costly, time consuming and ultimately can be viewed as going against the wishes of the deceased.

If you do not have funds to proceed you can enter into a CFA with the solicitors acting for you, how much you will be left with after that needs to be considered before proceeding.

Many claims do not get to court as the costs are so high and a settlement is instead agreed during mediation.

That’s for when probate has been granted. You need a will first!

(Letters of Administration is applied for when there is no will).

You will receive a copy of the will if you apply for a postal copy.

As I said - you need a will to apply for the grant. And he’s only just died! Applying for probate takes months.

And you need the bloody will FIRST!

@TheAgileDuck You have my sympathies, I think some people view the writing of a will when they're close to death as an acceptance of death - several people that I've known had definite bequests in mind that were never recorded. If you are able to identify the solicitor who acted for a property sale/purchase, they might have written and stored a will.
For others, particularly the smug and unsympathetic, a close friend who had been beneficiary of a number of wills in preceding years and was well-versed in such matters died two years ago. Her fur-babies were her life and there is no way that she would have failed to provide for them. When she died unexpectedly, her next of kin searched apparently fruitlessly for a will, announced that they found nothing, inherited the lot and had the animals PTS.
We should each lodge a copy of our will in a safe place known to our beneficiaries - an old man I knew handed sealed letters with a copy of his will to trusted friends each New Year, retrieving the previous year's letter from each. Any broken seal took them out of the group - and the will.

You need to take advice.

Are you certain he didn't have a will, but they are just not telling you?

I’m very sorry for your loss OP. I haven’t read the full thread so someone else may have mentioned this, but if he had a pension plan you may be entitled to dependant’s benefits.

Live in carers in south west cost around 1400-1600 weekly.!!

I've checked recently for my dad.

That's totally irrelevant - it's for wills where probate has already been granted.

And they would have proper time off. And holidays.

I really fear Op has been used and abused by this man and left high and dry by him. If he truly loved her he would have made sure she was protected by marrying her or giving her a copy of the will.

Totally. Someone is missing a trick not setting up some sort of website/database and the facility for people to upload wills.

She's grieving the loss of a man who didn't cared for her. OP left her career to care for him full time FOR FREE for many years when he was ill but he didn't bother to make sure things were taken care when he died and she was not left homeless and destitute. I would not be grieving, I would be very angry at him.

You really have filled in a lot of detail from your own imagination.

There are will executors and trustees you need to name as they are holders of said piece of paper and will and make sure things go accordingly to what you wrote. If it's true he made one he would have told his partner (and care giver) who his will executors were in case he died but he didn't so sounds like he did not make one.