Inheritance squabbles.

[HoofHearted]

As others have said, wills (and the settlement thereof) bring out the worst in people :-(

My dad and his brother (with their respective families) each lived in a house owned by their parents (my grandparents). When the grandparents died the will said that the estate should be split between the 2 brothers - meaning that my dad got his house and everything in it, ditto for his brother, and then everything else would be divvied up between them.

However, careless wording of the will meant that everything in the estate (including the houses) had to be valued in order to arrive at an amount to be divided. Unfortunately my dad had improved our house quite a lot, so he had to make a substantial payment to his brother in order to even things up for the settlement.

They never spoke to each other again

[northernladuk]

It's not muddled.

1. My aunt wants 100% of her own estate to go to her daughter - any trust is up to her and nothing to do with my fathers estate.

2. She also believes my father should have amended his will to look after her side of the family which I find quite unbelievable considering the point above.

I must be reading this wrong but I don't quite understand why your father hasn't left anything to his brother and sisters. Everyone I've discussed wills with recently have spread it around a little even if the estate is worth next to nothing, particularly if they are helping him out as you suggest. That basis kicks off a whole domino effect so no one wins. It's hardly suprising the aunt wants to give all her estate to her kids as she's in a situation where her own brother has left her out his will so why shouldn't she do the same? And same question to her, why isn't she helping her surviving brother out? Seems very odd to me.

It's likely I'm reading this wrong but if your father isn't helping his brother and sister out it's no wonder everyone is out for themselves TBH.

[tazdevil]

My MiL died early last year, the last of a very large Edwardian (12+ children) family. My wife was her only child and we'd bought a flat for her to live in (moved from SA after the death of FiL) and all the bills were in our name. Other than uphill from OVO energy everything went smoothly and we sold the flat and closed the estate in <3 months. It's easy without complications but I do know that as soon as relatives have a sniff of available money things go awry

[TheDude]

I must be reading this wrong but I don't quite understand why your father hasn't left anything to his brother and sisters. Everyone I've discussed wills with recently have spread it around a little even if the estate is worth next to nothing, particularly if they are helping him out as you suggest. That basis kicks off a whole domino effect so no one wins. It's hardly suprising the aunt wants to give all her estate to her kids as she's in a situation where her own brother has left her out his will so why shouldn't she do the same? And same question to her, why isn't she helping her surviving brother out? Seems very odd to me.

It's likely I'm reading this wrong but if your father isn't helping his brother and sister out it's no wonder everyone is out for themselves TBH.

That's just the point - she wants to leave 100% for her daughter but feels my dad should have been sorting out the rest of the family including a relative from my grandads side of the family who has only just appeared on the scene.

My father has done exactly the same thing she has always planned to do.

[ladymuck]

I must be reading this wrong but I don't quite understand why your father hasn't left anything to his brother and sisters. Everyone I've discussed wills with recently have spread it around a little even if the estate is worth next to nothing, particularly if they are helping him out as you suggest. That basis kicks off a whole domino effect so no one wins. It's hardly suprising the aunt wants to give all her estate to her kids as she's in a situation where her own brother has left her out his will so why shouldn't she do the same? And same question to her, why isn't she helping her surviving brother out? Seems very odd to me.

It's likely I'm reading this wrong but if your father isn't helping his brother and sister out it's no wonder everyone is out for themselves TBH.

My Dad left nothing to his brother. It all went to my Mum. My uncle was offered some personal effects of his.

When my Mum dies, it all comes to my brother and I - 50/50.

My Mum is one of 6 and she has absolutely no intention of leaving anything to her siblings. As far as my parents were concerned, they worked hard to provide for their kids, not for their siblings.

I have no offspring and will leave nothing but a good looking corpse. In the rare event I do have some cash left over, my nephew can have it as the last person standing.

[SueEllen]

My Dad left nothing to his brother. It all went to my Mum. My uncle was offered some personal effects of his.

When my Mum dies, it all comes to my brother and I - 50/50.

My Mum is one of 6 and she has absolutely no intention of leaving anything to her siblings. As far as my parents were concerned, they worked hard to provide for their kids, not for their siblings.

I have no offspring and will leave nothing but a good looking corpse. In the rare event I do have some cash left over, my nephew can have it as the last person standing.

And if your nephew is tulipty to you don't forget to leave the RSPCA 23%.

Why such an arbitrary figure because they will drive him to hell to get what they think is 23% of your estate.

[ladymuck]

I think you you need specialist legal advise now. I have known this to happen too many times. Sometimes it was not even necessary for the person to go into a care home but the council was very eager to get the person into a BUPA home, I wonder why.

Yeah, we've done some digging and there's complicated things around trusts that could be considered but the rules around deprivation of assets are quite extensive. I think the only way to stop the house being sold if she does need care is for me to move in on at least a part-time basis. If I did that then Mum wouldn't need a care home as I'd look after her for the most part.

We also looked at buying a care annuity but the cost of one of them is no different to selling the house - the only benefit is that you're less likely to run out of money if she lives longer than the underwriters planned for.

The council will erode finances down to about £20k net assets before they'll consider funding a place.

[eek]

Bit late for LM but it's worth posting this

https://www.silverliningep.co.uk/wil...s-inheritance/ although again it doesn't help greedy spouses if the will isn't correctly written.

[Protagoras]

I recall witnessing a will in which a colleague left nothing to his children, on the basis that they need to make their own way in the world. Legal under English law, but sad, really.

[NigelJK]

It's nearer £25K. And if your parent needs specialist care then don't expect much change from £1500 week, even for an average home. Council cap is around £800 week for those with less than £25K estate.