General Chat

After loosing a member of my family,we found out he didnt make a will! yet he was always talking about it..Now it seems that if you do not have a will,your assets (if not married) will go to next of kin,um you say well that sounds fair,if parents are deceased,siblings share,but what you dont know is that if the father remarries,and the wife brings kids from another marriage and he adopts them, then you have to share the assets with them..even though you may have never met them...So make a will everyone, otherwise it brings alot of heartache to the living.I dont know how it works in the UK,but in Australia this is how things work..

Good advice, also to be aware that if you make a will and appoint a solicitor as the executor, you may well find that your OH, next of kin, will be left without the money for 'a year and a day'.

This recently happened to a friend, the solicitor said that if they paid out the money (she was sole heir and nok) within that period and 'someone' appeared to challenge the will, the solicitor would be liable for the payment.

yes you are so right,some solicitors are grubs...in my case already its going to cost hundered of thousands of dollars just for the grubs to go through it.. (he would oh hated how things turned out .)

Having your assets in joint names (house, main bank account, savings and other investments) means that the survivor still has access to them.

Potty,
This maybe the case,but from what I understand is that when someone dies, the law will freeze all accounts,only able to access money to pay for funeral costs.Unless there is a will.Then its a different story.

What's the problem with sharing assets with your dads adopted children? He must have cared about them to want to be their legal father.

Making a will avoids making solicitors rich and carries out the deceaseds wishes but in my book nobody should EXPECT to benefit financially from anyones demise.

goldielocks,

This is from this site: www.direct.gov.uk

Money in joint accounts
The deceased person may have held money with another person in a joint bank or building society account. Normally this means that the surviving joint owner automatically owns the money. The money does not form part of the deceased person's estate for the purpose of administration and therefore does not need to be dealt with by the executor or administrator. However, a deceased's person's share in joint property is treated as part of their estate for inheritance tax purposes, both on death and on gifts made during their lifetime.


Looks like it only applies to joint bank accounts - must investigate OH's pension, in case he goes before me!

I see you are not in the UK, goldielocks, so maybe the law is different for you.

The problem is that the father walked out on his own children and never looked back,when the father died his own children got nothing from his will,,it ALL went to his adopted daughter, fair is it..? And also they were only informed of his death after they had his funeral.. You are right no one should expect anything when a life has passed over,its a gift..

Joint bank acounts aren't frozen if one party is still alive. They still have bills to pay!

potty. no not in the UK, our law is different. Dont know if its better or not..

To be honest Goldilocks, I wouldn't want anything from a father who had walked out on me and never looked back. :-)

I presume you were addressing me?

if any of my loved ones pass, i wouldnt want anything, i would rather have them here, so if somone else benfited from there death as long as it was my loved ones wishes then id be happy,



:-D

yes Island !
but as kids growing up,you want what you cant have.Knowing that your father had moved on with a new family,and you have been eraced from his life,you still hope that one day he would want to get to know you,after all blood is supposed to be thicker then water? Even at the age his kids are now,its very hurtful,But whats done is done,we just have to move on and hope that its never repeated in the family.

Goldilocks, I think in the UK, if somebody dies intestate there are strict rules of inheritance. If there is no living spouse but living children they would all share the inheritance, adopted and natural children. No one child would inherit the lot. And if one of the children had died and was married their share would be inherited by their next of kin I think.

when my father dies it took nearly 4 years to sort out
because he never left a will

Goldielocks,

I'm sorry you feel so hurt but it isn't the fault of your adopted sister - or me!

Its difficult to have any point of view on Goldilocks' situation without being in posession of the full facts, and all too often we are only getting a one-sided perspective.

For instance, I know that my DIL was told her father had walked out and erased her from his life, but the actual truth was, he did leave, but tried and tried to stay in contact with her, but mum refused to answer the door to him, tore up birthday cards, letters etc, and threw away presents that had to be left on the doorstep. Her mother had been the barrier between her and her dad, and until she was 18 and tracked him down, he hadn't included her in the will, thinking that it would also be blocked and she'd never get anything from him. Thankfully she did track him down and now has a healthy relationship with both her parents, though forgiving her mum for what she did took a lot of time.

Now I'm not saying that is what happened in goldilocks' case, but these things are always complicated, and a huge emotional strain on both parties in a split, and where there are children involved, it is heartbreaking for both parties. There are always two sides to every coin.

As for the will, or lack of...if you ever watch heirhunters, if there are no immediately obvious descendents traceable and living, then it will be worked back through the family tree until there are family members found who can inherit, so it could turn out that umpteenth cousins several time removed who you've never even heard of could end up being a beneficiary.

Adoptees have as much right to be a beneficiary to their adopted parent's estate, as birth children, but they have no right at all to their birth parents estate, unless specifically named in a will. Adoption waives all rights to anything from the birth parents.

If there isn't all that much in the estate, it's unlikely it will ever be looked into to find beneficiaries becaue of cost, so it will go to the treasury. Always advisable to make a will.

Thanks everyone for your feelings on this matter,it has opened my eyes..I also have a adopted sister and love her equal,but she was raised from a baby in our family,and I feel no different to her as my blood sister,so its not that Iam against any adoption at all, in this case its the fact there wasnt a will,and what you think is straight forward is not the case.. I just want people to be aware.. make a will, dont put it off, and say later ,because my family member died in his sleep,and he was young...you just dont know what the next day brings..

I made a will years ago, and haven't updated it yet.
as far as I remember, my children (and pets) are to be brought up by their father (my ex).
Children are now 28 & 30!!!
However, must harrass ex, and make sure he's made a will in favour of his own children, because, as things stand at the moment, his second wife (who he left over 10 years ago) Aand her children by husband number 1 may be entitled to more than he wishes (she's a bit of a money grabbing toad|) - cleaned him out 2 years ago - just as our eldest was getting married. Thankfully she's since remarried - good luck husband Number 3 !!!

My mother's husband died recently (Friday to be precise), in Portugal, where they live. They'd both made wills, but all his assets (including the joint bank account) have been frozen, which leaves my mother with little money to live on, sort his funeral and move back to UK. She also needs to sell their house. Not sure when his assets will be released, but mum doesn't expect to be able to move back with us for at least a month.

Maggiewinchester
Please do sort your will out,because there are alot of gold diggers out there,waiting like vultures...Every country has there own law,so I guess its worth finding out if you intend to move to another country,what rules they have..ect. Your poor mum must feel overwhelmed by all this,it can take along time to sort out.But again you have bought this to everyones attention,whats law in one country may not be so in another. Hope your mum has this sorted out before too long..