Inheritance

[childrenaremyworld]

I would be grateful for some advice please, my father passed away 39 yrs ago when I was 15yrs old. At the time my mum took myself and my siblings to a solicitor to sign documents. I did not realise until many years later that I had signed away my rights to my inheritance. I come from a South Indian family where inheritance is given directly to males in the family and if the mother has any inheritance will passed down to female children. The inheritance was in the form of land in India, which my two brothers have just sold for a considerable amount. My son thinks this is very unfair to myself and my two sisters, and has asked if I would consult a solicitor for advice.

I am a single mum, the financial pressure is difficult but I’m coping with taking on extra work. So many years have passed that I don’t think it would be possible to make any claim. Also the family fallout would be awful, I could potentially be cut off from my siblings and mum, which I obviously don’t want. Thanks for listening

Were you in the UK at the time and did your father leave a will leaving you the land?

How have you found this out? Did your mum benefit financially from this?

You need legal advice. I'd have thought your mum would be obliged to act in your best interests and she didn't so your claim may be against her or the entity that allowed her to act.

I'd try and identify a solicitor with experience/specialism in the culture your family come from and seek advice. You may find they'll give you a short 'overview' type interview free of charge.

Local Citizens Advice often have links with local lawyers who will do 'pro bono' stuff without charge.

I suspect the answer will be that there's nothing you can do or that what you can do will have an unaffordable financial and/or emotional cost.

But at least you'll know.

To be honest, you need a large bank balance to employ a good solicitor. You could ruin yourself fighting it unless a crime has been committed.

I’m not from your culture so feel free to ignore.

What would your mum think of you challenging this? Would you have any allies within the family at all? How do your sisters feel about this?

These actions were taken so long ago in a cultural context that clearly has very specific rules about inheritance. Presumably the thinking is that girls don’t need to inherit because they will be provided for by their husband and his family, while boys need to inherit as they will be taking on responsibility to provide for their families. This system does not anticipate the existence of single mums and the need for females to provide for a family. I presume your mum would have assumed at the time that you and your sisters would get married and be ‘looked after’ by your husbands?

i would say go very carefully into this. Do you have any friends in your community who have dealt with such a situation? Has there been any family conversation about it? What do your brothers think?

I don't think a 15 year old can sign a legal document in the UK. Was this done under UK law or Indian law? Could you ask your brother's to share without going to law or do you not have that sort of relationship. You could ask a lawyer, can you get hold of the original documents, the will and whatever you signed, can you contact the solicitor's office that dealt with it at the time? If it's a lot of money it might be worth just asking for a legal opinion before saying anything, if it's a definite too late or not provable then forget it.

I can only echo was the solicitor and the signing of the documents in India or in the UK? This could be critical (I'm not a lawyer). I can't believe a 15 year old signing such a document would be valid but would any reputable UK solicitor be involved in such a thing? Maybe it wasn't actually a solicitor after all and you were just told that.

You need legal advice.

Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it. My siblings and I were born in England, it was under UK law. My brothers would not share the inheritance with my myself and my sisters, one of my brothers has already mentioned this in the past. I’m not sure what my fathers will stated, my mum did not benefit financially from it.

Thank you Mixymaxymoxy, your are right in that the males in the family inherit so as to keep it in the bloodline, the females are expected to be ‘provided’ for by their husbands. I have spoken to one of my sisters and she became angry that I would even think of contesting it. As the family fallout would be huge and my mother’s health is not the best and would cause her too much stress.

I will look into contacting a solicitor for advice, although I don’t want my family to disown me, which is what would probably happen. Thank you

I don't think signing a form you were not given of knowledge of would be legal. I think you should consult a solicitor and explain what happened and see what they say. It sounds like your Mother did not act in your best interest.

15 is too young in the UK to sign away your inheritance so you've got some details muddled, probably best to get sleeping dogs lie now.

I wonder if your father didn't have a will and died intestate. In that case all children and your Mum would have shared the inheritance. Maybe that didn't feel right to your Mum so she arranged to 'fix it'. May not be legal if you were 15.

This all seems very unfair.

However I suspect that if you pursue a legal route you will end up with a big legal bill, no money from your brothers and family relationships in tatters.

How disappointing that your brothers happily stick to a system that favours them and leaves women dependent on marriage / husbands and therefore trapped.

It probably won't cost very much to get initial legal advice but the £££££ would kick in later if you really pursued this through the courts. And you might lose.

Your father's death is a long time ago now and, AFAIK, before systems were computerised. Once probate has been granted a will is in the public domain and you can get a copy. However, I suspect that isn't so easy for old wills but you could check it out perhaps? It's possible he died intestate of course.

As I see it, you have two things to deal with here: the first is the emotional aspect, so how unfair it is etc. This is by no means restricted to families of Indian origin as a quick read here will confirm. The other is legal: was the law of the relevant jurisdiction complied with or even broken?

Personally, I'd get as much information as I could even if you don't act on it. I'd just want to know.

Thanks very much for all your replies, it’s been helpful, I’m not sure what to do next, I can not afford a large legal bill. I may look into legal advice for now and then decide whether to take it any further

How did your mum support you all after the death of your father if none of his inheritance went to her?

It sounds very unfair to me. Surely in such a partriarchal, male dominated society, if the women in the family aren't allowed to inherit, there must be some requirement for the men in the family to support the women in the family, i.e. their mother and female siblings?

I don't understand how this situation was possible under UK law. You need specialist advice.

My eldest two siblings and my mum were working at the time and my mum had my father’s work pension. I will try to find my father’s will if he had one. If nothing else comes of it, it would be nice to know if myself and my sisters were named as beneficiaries