Can I stop people pestering me about my father's estate.

merlot Have you thought of complaining to the Law Society about this?
It seems to have been made unnecessarily complicated by the woman's solicitors.
I thought that if you wanted to alter someone's will after they had died, you just had to apply for a Deed of Variation.
Since from what you say, no-one was contesting anything, how can they possibly charge £400K

My brother thought about contacting the legal ombudsman, janeainsworth but it looks like, hopefully, the end might be in sight even if it's not until next year. My two brothers and I are not the only beneficieries and although we have been informed who the others are, we do not know them. They would have to agree to any challenge and we fear it would just lengthen the time and add to the costs.

merlot If you think the solicitors are overcharging or running up unnecessary costs, when the matter has been settled, the solicitor should let you have an itemised account. If you disagree with this you can ask for it to be checked by a costs draftsman (basically an independent solicitor who will look at the file and assess what the fair costs should be).

We may be able to do that eventually, Barrow but our problem is they keep finding unecessary things to do which run up extra costs. Any pressure we put on them adds more to the bill.

merlot they certainly seem to have us every which way don't they I encountered this stalling and racking up the bill from solicitors dealing with the sale of my parents house and the sharing of the proceeds between myself and four siblings the cost was no where near £400.000 but it was still a signifigant amount which would have bought my youngest sister a small terraced house.

merlot A will is a public document, and even without the escalating cost question I believe you have every right to know who the other beneficiaries are. I would think an enquiry at least with the Law Society, setting out the facts to them, is justified.

There is no will, Elegran My relative died intestate. We have a copy of the family tree from the firm (like heirhunters) who found us so we know the names of the other beneficiaries but although we are all distantly related, we have never met them. We are reluctant to give the solicitors any more excuses to faff about and run up more charges and I suspect the other beneficiaries are being cautious as well because they haven't attempted to contact us either.

It makes me laugh (like a drain) when I watch heirhunters and they give the impression that all those excited long lost relatives will receive a lovely unexpected windfall. The reality is that by the time various snouts have been in the trough, there won't be a lot left.

Difficult! The moral is of course that we should all make a will so that our wishes are known when the time comes. Some of us don't get round to it, some don't want to rock the boat by favouring one person above others, so do nothing - and cause everyone a lot of trouble, except the lawyers who are in clover.

In Australia living in a defacto relationship is regarded as the same as being married. While I believe our laws have gone too far, I can't see how after forty years the OH is entitled to nothing. They would have contributed in some way.

I did a lot of research into the background, Elegran and Faye. There's so much I could write a book!! I think Frank (not his real name) deliberately failed to make a will not because he didn't want his OH to be provided for but because he didn't want his hard earned dosh to eventually be left to OH's son who he couldn't stand. They both had terminal cancer and it was a toss up as to who would go first. Frank was well liked in his village and played a part in community affairs. I could be wrong but I think his reasons were:

If he left any money to OH she would die soon after him and his money would go to her son.

If he left it to the local cats' home or some such charity, folk in the village would think badly of him for not providing for OH.

If he didn't make a will, she could apply to the court for provision for care in her final months. Solicitors acting for the beneficiaries would advise them to agree which is what happened and we did. The woman's solicitor advised her to go for the value of the house she had lived in with Frank but it all took so long and so many hearings to sort out she died before she could go into care. I think it's criminal that two firms of solicitors have been playing ping-pong with Frank's money for four years. Although we all agreed to pay OH's court costs out of the estate because she had no savings of her own, even THAT had to be haggled over in yet another court case

Years ago DH had a letter out of the blue saying he was entitled to a share of a distant relative's estate, I think she was the daughter of a great aunt, anyway some kind of cousin.

About six months later we received a cheque. The estate was only worth £11,000 and as the great aunt was one of 9 children and her brother, DH's grandfather had 13 children the cheque was for £169 and we did feel an awful lot of work had gone into tracing us all up for relatively little. I am sure the deceased would probably preferred that it went to a neigbour or friend or local cat's home. But if you do not make a will.............................

I remember the day I got THE letter, Flickety, It was a cold wet February day two and a half years ago. When I opened it I thought it was junk mail. I was just about to bin it when I spotted the words, 'Are you the daughter of......my father's name? It also included my father's former surname because he changed his name when he was a young man. I was curious because hardly anyone knew Dad's first name so I looked up the website address they gave which confirmed they were an heirhunters organisation. The letter asked me to contact any siblings I might have but I could just imagine both my brothers laughing their heads off so I rang the organisation first. I was keen to know how they found me and it was explained that we were hard to find because of the change of name. The man who had died intestate was my maternal grandmother's nephew but we didn't know he existed. They eventually found me because I had recently applied for Power of Attorney for my mum's affairs and a computer programme they use found the link between the names and Hey Presto!

merlot, it amazed me how they built up the family tree and I must say it was fascinating. They seemed to have traced one or two relatives then got them to add as much as they could and then contacted their additions and did the same again. DH was contacted near the end of the process and sent the partial details of his grandfather's family and we were able to complete that side, quite a job with 13 children from 2 marriages. Fortunately, although it wasnt a close family, news did travel around and we could fill in all the individual names even when we had no addresses. I say we because I listened and remembered family discussions about relations whereas my husband took no notice.

My son in law was left a cottage merlot by his step grandfather on his mother's side. His grandfather drowned when his mother was a child and his grandfather's best friend married his grandmother and supported her and her five children. When my SIL was a young child he would go with his father and as he got older he rode his bike there every day and helped the step grandfather on his small farm. Apparently the rest of the family never bothered to help out. When the grandfather died he left the property to my SIlL to inherit after the grandmother died. My SIL's aunts and uncles were furious and turned really nasty. The farm had to be sold and a cottage bought for the grandmother that my SIL eventually inherited last year. The family gave my SIL's mother a hard time even at their mother's funeral two years ago. They all lived around this area so she has put up with a lot. My SIL said they never helped out at the farm and he would have liked to have kept it but they had to do what was best for the grandmother. When the will was finally finalised it went through with no problems, I think my SIL just signed some paperwork.

Hi Faye

My wife passed away when our twin daughters were 15. Sadly my mother and father in law passed away 3 years later when our daughters were 18.
About 3 months before they passed away my in laws updated their wills and left the estate evenly to our 2 daughters.
People on my mother in laws side of the family were furious and came to me and said that I must make my daughters hand their inheritance over to them as they were my in laws blood relatives.
I do not know how I was suposed to do this and I thought our daughters were blood relatives.
They also said that inheriting £300,000 at that age was far too much and they would be spending on drugs etc.
All my daughters did was deposit the money in various financial institutions and trained to be nurses.
5 years later they both married dentists who they met on holiday which was a bit strange as they would have never met them through work.
They used their inheritances to buy houses.
Four years later I was made a grandad by both of them within a month of each other and 3 years later both of them had another child within a month of each other again.
I am not sure where the drugs came into the situation.

John

I think you should keep a diary of events, who did or said what and time and date with, if possible photos. If you do then have to go to court you will have the evidence. I think the police would be more sympathetic if you have such a trail.

Martin, I believe that if you remarry and then make another will you can leave your assets to whomever you choose be it your new wife or anyone else.

Hi Movedalot

You said Martin but I think you are refering to me.
The assets left by my inlaws to my 2 daughters were left direct to them and as such are nothing to do with me.
My house is in an asset protection trust so it in effect belongs to my daughters but I have a right to live in it for life.
This should mean the council can not force the sale of the house if I have to go into care.
If I do re marry some agreement would have to be made with my daughters as in theory they would be able to throw her out if I pass away.
That said somebody near me married a man whose house is subject to the same trust and the children zoomed in and changed the locks the day after the father passed away.
I have been told the wife is trying to claim under the family dependants act 1975 but at present she is locked out.

Hi Emmah1952

You may want to take a look at my thread as I am having the same problem as you.

http://www.gransnet.com/forums/chat/1194630-Why-do-the-elderly-people-in-my-area-complain-all-the-time-I-am-not-entitled-to-the-house-I-inherited-from-my-parents?pg=2

I do not know if these people do not know the legal situation or if it is just a try on.

Frank