My late fathers will and life insurance..

[anon134]

I need some advice about something that's been playing on my mind for a while..
My father died suddenly 7 years ago.he remarried a year before he died to a woman that myself and my brother did not get along with.she forbid us from going to her house and the relationship was very strained.
Heart attacks run on my dads side of the family and I knew that my father always had that at the back of his mind.
A few days after he died,myself and my brother went to see his wife and I asked whether there was a will.she replied that there was but left it at that... Myself and my brother knew that he also had quite a large life insurance policy.A few weeks after the funeral,we asked to see the will but his wife replied that there wasn't one..she then forbade us any access to his possessions and stopped all contact.we tried reaching out to her for months but eventually gave up after being ignored.I can't believe that my father would not leave a will or allocate any of his life insurance to myself or my brother but never looked into it because we were grieving and it was never about the money for me..I wrote to enquire whether there was a will and was contacted and told that one was not found.is there anything I can do???if there was no legal will signed by a solicitor would all of his assets and life insurance go directly to her as she would be the next of kin??

[MissFM]

Re: My late fathers will and life insurance..

This might be relevant: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/e...ates-will.html

This means that, as things currently stand, you do not have a valid will and so your estate will be dealt with under the rules of intestacy. This states that, depending on the size of your estate, your spouse will receive up to £250,000, with the rest split between your spouse in trust and any children you have.

I also believe that Life Insurance Policies normally have named beneficiaries - but others more knowledgeable will clarify.

[des8]

Re: My late fathers will and life insurance..

If your father died intestate, there will (ought to) be a record of the disposal of his estate.
You can search the records for a grant of administration here: https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inh...robate-records
If there ever was a will, but it was destroyed or revoked, you will have great difficulty proving it.

If there was no will and the estate was valued at more than £250,000, the partner would have inherited

• all the personal property and belongings of your father, and
• the first £250,000 of the estate, and
• half of the remaining estate

[des8]

Re: My late fathers will and life insurance..

RE life policies you're basically correct MissFM.
If the policy is "written in trust" the money does not form part of the estate but goes directly to the beneficiary named in the trust deed.
However not all policies are so written.
When I was involved in the business I reckon less than half were so written which is absolute madness!