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

It isn't. It seems clear that the partner wanted to leave his estate to his (estranged) children. As this is the outcome from not making a will. But would lose the daily care from his partner. So HE CHOSE to not make a will or marry to protect his partner. He did indeed stitch her up, and she was utterly naive to trust the situation. She sounds my age. I know this can happen , why didn't she? A teacher is well qualified. Hopefully, her teachers pension will provide income support after retirement.

I agree with @snapncrackle and @floppyelf . He used the OP for 8 years, knowing full well (at least up to July) that he needed to sort this out. He was cavalier about her security and likely comforted himself that OP loved him too much or was too naive to put her foot down.

@TheAgileDuck lawyers are expensive, but so is homeless. Engage a solicitor as a matter of priority and I hope you manage to secure a favourable outcome.

Have you been on Certainty, the National Will Register to see if one is registered? If you speak to a solicitor, ask them about this.

It is publicised. But people choose to ignore it. You cannot legislate for stupidity or naievity.

Mu late parents had what they called the “death box “ big red lever arch file

it had everything in it from copies of passwords / and email adresss to bank statement / credit card statement from each account that they had
photocopy’s of passports / driving licence
car registration/ insurances
NI numbers
a copy of gas / electric phone basically all the bills - statements
house deeds
pensions and life insurance and the car registration documents for will safe and the name of the person who wrote their will ( just in case )

strangely they were never this organised in life 😂

I didn’t want to read and run. I have no advice but send my condolences for you loss and the trouble you are having.

This is what I think. Horrid, but legal.

I'm really sorry to hear about your situation. In England, if you're not married and your partner dies without a will, you don't have automatic rights to inherit their property or stay in the home. This is because the intestacy rules (which apply when someone dies without a will) do not provide for unmarried partners.
However, you might have some options:
Financial Contributions: If you contributed financially to the property, you might be able to claim an interest in it under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA). But I think you have said he paid for everything.
Inheritance Act 1975: You could make a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, which allows certain people (including cohabiting partners) to claim financial provision from the estate.
It's a good idea to seek legal advice to explore your options and understand the best course of action and do not move out until he estate has been settled.

I'd also search all his papers to see if he has ever dealt with any solicitors and check with them that they don't hold a Will, and maybe his bank.

This has just happened to somebody I know. Kids kicked her out despite their father specifically telling them she must be allowed to stay.
Let this be a lesson to anybody unmarried with a partner with no will.

I'm a solicitor in Scotland and I'm stunned that you are continuing to perpetuate the myth about "Common Law Spouses". It has no meaning in Scots Law or English Law. The correct term in both jurisdictions is "cohabitants"

It absolutely is not a term understood by lay persons.

I agree. He knew by default not writing the will would leave it to the kids. If he is estranged from them I expect he failed them badly - sorry it’s rarely down to kids why they don’t talk to their parents and even as adults I believe the responsibility of trying to repair the relationship is still mainly on them. They can’t just shrug and say oh well my kids didn’t want to talk to me, which is what I presume he did.

I suspect that not going through with the will was his way of trying to repair some of the damage to his family as he knew it would go to them.

The guy.has literally just died and the first day back from Christmas for most offices is today! Give any solicitor that may have any Will the chance to find out about his death and to speak to the OP! Let's not malign the poor fellow just yet.

Not necessarily. We don’t know the reason for the estrangement. He could have been an awful, abusive father. And if he was, the children deserve to have the property. Especially if he was estranged from them when they were very young, and didn’t get any financial support. We just don’t know the background, other than what OP is telling us. And she might be just repeating what her late partner told her.

I’m really sorry OP, I hope you get some good help with this and some positive news.

💯 he probably “owes” them literally and figuratively. Children rarely just chuck their father away for fun.

No, it’s not clear at all. This is a conclusion you are drawing from the limited information provided.
if he wanted his children to inherit he could have had a will drawn up in their favour, lodged it with his solicitor and not told op anything about it.
The key issue is that none of the comments about naivety, being stitched up or being foolish is any way helpful to the op’s situation.

But the point is that copies of Wills are only held at the Probate Registry when the Executor has supplied one as part of the process to apply for Grant of Probate. When someone dies intestate (where there is no Will) someone closely related to the deceased has to apply for Letters of Administration to administer the estate and no Will will be provided to the Probate Registry as part of that process because no Will exists. In OP's case, it is her late partner's children that are the first in priority order to apply for LoA (the order is: the deceased's spouse or civil partner, a child of the deceased, including adopted children but not stepchildren, a parent of the deceased.

OMG, the lengths people will go to. I suppose they treated it like a full time job harassing you through the courts. A well paying job.

OP if you are names in any insurance your partner had - contents, for example - there may be a legal advice line. If a lawyer thinks you have a good chance they may agree to a conditional fee (no win, no fee). BUT you need to get together whatever you can, including screenshots of any relevant messages from his phone, records of what access you had to his money when he was alive and whether he paid you regular amounts of money or e.g. let you use cards in his name, if he ever named you as next of kin or made you a beneficiary on his pension, made you a named driver on car insurance - look for anything you can think of.

Dont let his family in the house if you can avoid it until this is resolved. Although someone will have to value his possessions for probate that shouldnt really be a family member if any are high value. https://www.geplegal.co.uk/library/trust-wills-and-probate/asset-valuation-problems-chattels/#:~:text=In%20general%20terms%2C%20when%20valuing,buyer%20and%20a%20willing%20seller.

Great advice. Just pop in a Time Machine OP

Some pps are saying if he wanted the will to go to his kids he would’ve made a will.

Nah, that’s not the case - you’ve got it the wrong way around. If he wanted OP to inherit he would’ve drawn up a will (as he had claimed) stating so.

He knew his inaction in this situation would lead to the kids inheriting, he didn’t need to write a will for them to inherit.

His children will inherit without a will and this he was well aware of So indirectly that’s clearly what he wanted.

It seems he couldn’t find the courage to tell Op his wishes so he just didn’t do anything as he couldn’t quite bring himself to put it in black and white that he had screwed her over.

I actually think it’s right the house goes to his kids tbf but I don’t agree with the deception. That was sly and cruel.

By doing it this way he probably hopes that OP can delude herself that he did try to provide for her and it was just a mistake so she won’t think too badly of him , despite the fact he intentionally lied and was clearly aware he had no will. That was an intentional and deliberate act!

Judging by his email he was probably going back and forth about it and had considered leaving it to OP, but ultimately decided on leaving things as they are.

I hope you get good legal advice and manage to start working again. Please don’t let yourself be taken advantage of like this again. Hope this can serve as a lesson to other women.

Let the solicitors who dealt with the house purchase know about the death and ask them if they hold a will.

I am not in law but am also shocked that you use this term as some people will assume it actually means something in law.

I am a bit clueless but even with no will does it automatically go to his children even with no contact for 10 years?