Archers thread #185: Some farming would be nice. Discuss The Archers here.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads.

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Over to you!

@Horticula , I think it's quite possible to be attracted only to the opposite sex, then be attracted to someone of the same sex out of the blue, like what happened with Pip'n'Stella. That's what I understand anyway. I've only been heterosexual AFAIK.

I’ve never had to deal with an estate, but I’m pretty sure my gran had her funeral all planned and paid for before she died.

Good episode this evening. I loved the grabby grandchildren receiving their emails.
It made me feel quite smug as my inheritance was considerably bigger than theirs.
(The inheritance didn't reach me for reasons that I'd rather not go into, but the will predated nursing home fees, and it made more sense to not take it,and it definitely wasn't a life-changing amount.)

Was it joy free?

so what’s going on with the inheritance? Peggy not having as much as they all think is not surprising. She didn’t scrimp!

They can't have got anywhere close to knowing what the residue would be to divvy up. So my guess is that she left a legacy of the the sum of £x, to be divided in equal shares between all the people who got texts. So if it was somewhere around £278, then £5k would provide 18 legacies. I hope Hazel got one too! 😆

Henry was lovely; thought Helen was upset because he immediately talked about spending the money when really she was annoyed at the low amount.

Kate to inherit the house, because of her caring and also I guess she's the least 'set up'

@onceuponatimeinneverland ,the house was sold whilst Peggy was alive.

Maybe the manager of the Laurels copped the rest, and we're in for a Public Service Warning about Exploitation of The Elderly? That would be quite tedious. Also, in my experience, they only steal the jewellery.

Well, care home fees around here are running at £1500 a week, £2000 for dementia care. So c£100,000 a year for Jack Woolley, a bit less for Peggy, same for Christine. Half a million to 'rewild'. I think she's spent it all!

Jack Woolley died in January 2014. My mother died about a year later, in a specialist Alzheimer's care home, and fees then were around £4k a month. And Jack had shedloads of money, so his income alone would probably have more than covered it!

Fees today are obviously a lot higher, but I don't suppose for a moment that Peggy died broke. Nah! She has done something annoying, for which I heartily applaud her.

Oooh this is much more like it.

<rubs hands gleefully>

Unlurking. I reckon she died with millions and it’s all been left to Rewilding Ambridge or something. Or she secretly bought the Home Farm house at some point as a weird power play to mess with Brian’s head and the Gills have been renting it.

Or maybe she's left it to some humanitarian charity? Yes, obviously I jest!

Ohhh, must have missed that!

Do we (for which read any of you, including the SWs) know who bought the house? Or are we going to be presented with more Gills?

So if she left a cash amount to all grandchildren and great grandchildren that must be:

James and 1 child
Adam and 1 child
Debbie
Kate and 3 children
Alice and 1 child
Rory maybe ?
Johnny
Helen and 2 children
Tom and 2 children plus Wren bequest
Hazel ?
Have I missed anyone ? - I guess if she had a huge stocks and shared portfolio it could be 278,000 each rather than £278 each - but I hope the latter for a Helen and Tom

Even if it's just the cash amounts based on her share portfolio it's still rather quick for the Executor to be telling them

Brian would be quite knowledgeable about her position in the past as she discussed finances with him

Maybe whilst she's be in The Laurels she's been responding uo the scan letters from overseas and sending them money?

Last thought - the bulk of her estate is paying for the stained glass window

Joy-free but not joyless.

If she hasn’t left a chunk elsewhere, then she must’ve been literally about to run out of money to pay The Laurels. It was a bit random that they chose to move her there, so I would think it has to have something to do with the story. I hope she’s left some to Emma. Maybe she always felt guilty for not helping her before… That would make sense of the bit where Emma was talking about her fondly recently.

BeaLola, there really is no reason for Peggy to have left anything to Hazel. Hazel was not and is not any relation to Peggy. She was Peggy's second husband's second wife's child by a previous marriage, and she had left home well before Peggy married her stepfather.

Also Peggy couldn't stand her, for all sorts of excellent reasons which Hazel demonstrated on the very rare occasions when she rolled up in Ambridge to screw some money out of her stepfather.

And she got her inheritance directly from Peggy's second husband.

Another great episode. Radishes! Escape room! Money!

I am really enjoying the sense the SW this week is creating of the Bridge Farm Archers actually being a family who do family things.

Only fly in the ointment was the stinkingly awkward moment where Tony talked about Will’s Nic dying out of the blue as if the same thing hadn’t happened to Brian. And Brian returning the favour by asking Tony “Are things not going well for you?” within a week of his mum’s death. I guess they deserve each other!

Yes please!

Agree with everyone else that it's very odd indeed that these extremely precise figures are being imparted six days after Peggy died and before the funeral, but maybe it was pre-paid. I did think it was extremely peculiar that Alan appeared to be planning the funeral the other day. Surely Anglican vicars don't do that?

Also delurking. Surely Peggy has left all her dosh to Joy, her previously unsuspected BFF, who’ll now be able to pay for a top brief for Rochelle, upgrade to a big swanky house in the centre of the village and become the central character forevermore. She'll never leave and The Archers will be renamed The Horvilles in her honour.

More preposterous thought -Christine inherits , she knew it and hastened Peggy along

I so want Helen and Tom to have their comeuppance

Mind you Henry - he is endearing - halters for the goats

That's what I think has happened. Presumably the executor may be able to say with certainty that the grandchildren will get this if he can see that there is more than enough in Peggy's accounts to cover these payments plus tax plus funeral costs so it's safe enough to give the figures. I only have the vaguest recollection of all the fuss around Peggy's will plans, but when she saw the light didn't she say the money would be going primarily to her children?

In the real world beneficiaries would not be told that quickly.

In the real world where a beneficiary is left a specific amount and as long as the estate clearly has enough to pay the specific legacies those beneficiaries can be told what they are getting. Their share will reduce the residuary beneficiary's share.

Peggy didn't own land or houses so her estate is cash , a share portfolio, ISAs- all easy enough to value. She won't have had any debts, other than the funeral costs. In the real world banks would not have released account information that quickly but the accountant probably has a good idea of what assets she had.

There are 20 possible beneficiaries so £5,778.80. It's an oddly specific sum. The accountant would know what investments she had and what the ballpark figure is but until everything has been realised he wouldn't know the exact sum to divide up.

The alternative is the will actually stated £278.94 each- which is not credible unless there is a significance to that and the rest goes to a residuary
beneficiar(y)(ies)or charity.