no will, no wife, no children, who gets estate?

[longlily]

hi all, my uncle died nearly 2 yrs ago, and i have recently found out that my brother cleared out my uncles flat, and his bank accounts, just because he was next of kin? he didnt inform anyone and i only found out by a slip of the tongue from my mum, who he gave £2k. my uncle has a living sister, and brother (my dad who has alzheimers), no children, never married, and i was his fav niece, anyone in family knows that, i just liv in london, whilst my brother lives in hometown as does mum and rest of family. I am feeling hurt as i now cant trust my brother, but im puzzled at how he was allowed to take his money out of banks no questions asked, kind of thing, as he said he just told them he was next of kin.

Am i able to find anything more out from anywhere about how much money he had, and should my brother have informed my uncles sister or other relatives of deceased brothers.

thanks

[Berniethebolt]

Re: no will, no wife, no children, who gets estate?

Hi
I can imagine that you are quite hurt . The rules are quite complex and also depend on how much the estate was worth

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/re...-of-intestacy/

If your Uncle died had no direct descendants his estate will be divided between your aunt, your dad and if he had any other siblings who have died, their share would go to their children or if no children then back to your aunt and dad.

There are certain expenses that must be paid first such as the cost of the funeral and outstanding debts. If your Uncle owned no property and had little savings then 2K to your Mum (on behalf of your dad ) and the same to your aunt may not be unreasonable. As your parents are living neither you nor your brother have a claim

https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

I may be wrong but if your brother ignored the law I believe he could be held personally liable but in cases where solicitors get involved, the only people who win are the lawyers.

As for taking the money out of the bank, your brother will likely either have had to get letters of administration from the court or if the estate wasn't big enough to need that then the bank would have likely required him to sign to say he took full responsibility

[nemesis45]

Re: no will, no wife, no children, who gets estate?

hi all, my uncle died nearly 2 yrs ago, and i have recently found out that my brother cleared out my uncles flat, and his bank accounts, just because he was next of kin? he didnt inform anyone and i only found out by a slip of the tongue from my mum, who he gave £2k. my uncle has a living sister, and brother (my dad who has alzheimers), no children, never married, and i was his fav niece, anyone in family knows that, i just liv in london, whilst my brother lives in hometown as does mum and rest of family. I am feeling hurt as i now cant trust my brother, but im puzzled at how he was allowed to take his money out of banks no questions asked, kind of thing, as he said he just told them he was next of kin.

Am i able to find anything more out from anywhere about how much money he had, and should my brother have informed my uncles sister or other relatives of deceased brothers.

thanks

Have you been able to determine if your uncle actually died intestate?
Time to ask questions of the family perhaps, their attitude to
questions may well give away what has happened.
Official Government site: Wills, Records, Inheritance, may help.
nem

[Berniethebolt]

Re: no will, no wife, no children, who gets estate?

The title of the thread does suggest that he died intestate as it says No will but it is certainly worth checking with the probate office
https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

they should be able to give you more details

Many people who die without a will have their estates handled without the need for letters of administration even though technically the law may say you need to have them. I don't think its done for deception but just because people a) don't know what they need to do and b) they are wary of the State and officialdom. I know my MIL's estate was dealt with by her two daughters and with life insurance her estate was over the 5K threshold . Anything under 5K doesn't need legal paperwork and remember the estate does not include the deceased's personal belongings

[fairy dust 49]

Re: no will, no wife, no children, who gets estate?

Hi I am actually in the first stages of sorting my dads estate out as he past away 3 weeks ago ,I have gone straight through with a solicitor as my dad does not have a will or power of attorney in place .I have been told even though there are 4 siblings my eldest brother does not inherit any of the state as he is a step son from my mums first marriage also if any of my dads blood children are deceased then their living children would get there parents share .If there are no children to the deceased then the next in line would be his brothers and sisters if any.It does state on the paper work I have that any descendants who have not been previously named have 6 months to put in any claim on the deceased estate .But I think it would be worth while you getting some advise as to how he was able to gain monies out of your uncles bank ,to me that sounds like theft any way and the bank should not have allowed it since your uncle had passed away.

[Berniethebolt]

Re: no will, no wife, no children, who gets estate?

Fairy Dust
As you so well explained the details of who gets what when someone dies without leaving a will are somewhat complicated . It really does all depend on how much money was in the estate, less than 5K then the banks will pay out to whoever can demonstrate they have the power to be winding up the estate . Sometimes the banks are only really interested in how much there is with that bank, so for example a couple of small life insurances and a few quid in the bank. If the bank are not willing to pay out to the person administering the estate they will send a cheque to the undertakers .

It is a very unfortunate situation but if there was no will, in law the OP has no claim on the estate favourite nice or not , the beneficiaries would be the OP's father and Aunt with her brother being able to claim reasonable expenses for doing the job of winding up the estate . Unless there is a lot of money involved i do not see any benefit in getting legal advice.
I understand how hurtful it is as my Aunt/Godmother left £500000 (yes 1/2 million quid to charity ) . This included valuable pieces of jewellery and furniture that my Mum had given her when my Grandmother died (Mum was left the entire contents of the house and personal possesions by her mother)

[longlily]

Re: no will, no wife, no children, who gets estate?

Hi I am actually in the first stages of sorting my dads estate out as he past away 3 weeks ago ,I have gone straight through with a solicitor as my dad does not have a will or power of attorney in place .I have been told even though there are 4 siblings my eldest brother does not inherit any of the state as he is a step son from my mums first marriage also if any of my dads blood children are deceased then their living children would get there parents share .If there are no children to the deceased then the next in line would be his brothers and sisters if any.It does state on the paper work I have that any descendants who have not been previously named have 6 months to put in any claim on the deceased estate .But I think it would be worth while you getting some advise as to how he was able to gain monies out of your uncles bank ,to me that sounds like theft any way and the bank should not have allowed it since your uncle had passed away.

thankyou for replying fairy dust 49, especially at this very sad time in your life, i appreciate your response. sending a big hug across the airwaves.

[longlily]

Re: no will, no wife, no children, who gets estate?

Have you been able to determine if your uncle actually died intestate?
Time to ask questions of the family perhaps, their attitude to
questions may well give away what has happened.
Official Government site: Wills, Records, Inheritance, may help.
nem

thankyou nemesis45,
i am quite naive at times, and never asked questions until quite late, and i was made to feel like i was a troublemaker, which threw me totally. I am not a material person, and am hurt deeply just by the fact i trusted my brother to inform me if there was anything, and as he didnt inform me i just presumed there was nothing, which is fine, but then the slip up by mum, made her feel bad about it all, and my brother gave his wife an amount of cash (not sure how much but at least £3k) "because my uncle would have wanted that".
Let me stop moaning, and thankyou for your advice, i truly appreciate your time

[longlily]

Re: no will, no wife, no children, who gets estate?

The title of the thread does suggest that he died intestate as it says No will but it is certainly worth checking with the probate office
https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

they should be able to give you more details

Many people who die without a will have their estates handled without the need for letters of administration even though technically the law may say you need to have them. I don't think its done for deception but just because people a) don't know what they need to do and b) they are wary of the State and officialdom. I know my MIL's estate was dealt with by her two daughters and with life insurance her estate was over the 5K threshold . Anything under 5K doesn't need legal paperwork and remember the estate does not include the deceased's personal belongings

thankyou berniethebolt, appreciate the link, and will read up. Thanks for clearing up some points. So glad i found this site, as you guys are extremely polite and quick to respond, i can only gain knowledge and feel better inside already. Im hurt, but its a lesson for me to learn, im not vindictive, and will sit back and allow karma to "give back x 10" ;-)

[Berniethebolt]

Re: no will, no wife, no children, who gets estate?

longlily
Karma is indeed a wonderful thing and I am a great believer in it

Sorry I hadn't realised that your brother gave his wife some cash as well as your Mum.

The first things to check are if there was actually a will which seems unlikely and then if anything was registered .

If you find that there was no will and your brother gave his wife some money from the estate you have a difficult decision to make about what to do. I really do not envy you.
If there was not a will may I suggest caution in what you do as it could lead to a whole load of hurt for all concerned

[nemesis45]

Re: no will, no wife, no children, who gets estate?

thankyou nemesis45,
i am quite naive at times, and never asked questions until quite late, and i was made to feel like i was a troublemaker, which threw me totally. I am not a material person, and am hurt deeply just by the fact i trusted my brother to inform me if there was anything, and as he didnt inform me i just presumed there was nothing, which is fine, but then the slip up by mum, made her feel bad about it all, and my brother gave his wife an amount of cash (not sure how much but at least £3k) "because my uncle would have wanted that".
Let me stop moaning, and thankyou for your advice, i truly appreciate your time

Certainly does seem a little odd one would expect your mother if no one else to talk about a reasonably sized inheritance, secrecy like this can only build suspicion, creating a very tense situation.

nem

[longlily]

Re: no will, no wife, no children, who gets estate?

hi guys i just checked government site and there is a registered death of my uncles name, but it says grant and will in the documents section, i can order a copy for £10, and i have asked my brother for a copy of death certificate i also asked him for closing of bank accounts receipts, however he just went on about how it was left to him to clear out uncles flat!! he was never not going to clear it out, as he knew there were lots of bank books so wasnt going to miss anything or let anyone else find anything.

so does that mean there was a will?

thanks in advance, thought i had closed this, amazing what you can uncover on the internet :-)

[longlily]

Re: no will, no wife, no children, who gets estate?

my mum is a weak woman, she is the type who wont have any raised voices "in case the neighbours hear". she goes along with everything and doesnt ask questions, i only found out her dad was mixed race (half black, half white) when i was 16 and overheard a conversation, i love her to pieces though bless she is 79 and is in need of brother right now so just turns a blind eye

i told my brother how this all looks, and its up to him to correct my thoughts with proof not words, i wont back off now, my conscience for myself wont allow me to let this go until he can show me i am paranoid.
thanks for advice

[Berniethebolt]

Re: no will, no wife, no children, who gets estate?

So if you ordered a copy of the will and found your brother had done something wrong what would you do
1) Confront him and give him the opportunity to put it right?
2) Tell the relatives who were short changed (possibly) or over paid
3) Report him to the police
4) Do nothing

If you can live with yourself by doing nothing that is one answer, but would you possibly want to rip the family apart?

I am just saying think on before you go forward

[longlily]

Re: no will, no wife, no children, who gets estate?

So if you ordered a copy of the will and found your brother had done something wrong what would you do
1) Confront him and give him the opportunity to put it right?
2) Tell the relatives who were short changed (possibly) or over paid
3) Report him to the police
4) Do nothing

If you can live with yourself by doing nothing that is one answer, but would you possibly want to rip the family apart?

I am just saying think on before you go forward

thanks for concern. i would have him explain himself infront of my mum, so she can hear his reasons as to why he chose to behave the way he did.