Inheritance money

[Puglia]

Hi, My partner's mother died a few months ago, she is an only child, the mother's house and all assets, money, etc, were left in a written will to her daughter '(my partner') she is in desperate need of funds, she cannot work, so no income, too young for a pension, she cannot go shopping, pay any utility bills and is generally in a very depressed state. She has asked for access to her inheritance but has been told she must wait up to one year, how can this be correct, she is an only child, so there are no other possible claimants, there are no debts against her mother, but my partner is desperate for some help now, why can she not access some of the fund's her mother wanted her to have, her father died some years ago and left a similar will, leaving everything to his wife and only daughter, any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Gerry

[des8]

Does the will say anything about delaying payment of legacies?

Who is the executor?

It is normal to not distribute the assets until 6 months after probate because of the possibility of inheritance claims against the estate.
However there is also the "executors year".
The executor is not bound to distribute the estate before the expiry of one year from the date of passing.
This is to allow the executor time to collect all assets, identify estate liabilities, because if overlooked they could become the executor's liability.

However if the estate is simple there really shouldn't IMO be any reason why she should not receive at least a partial payment.