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Hi all, hope this is the right place for my question. In 2011 my partner passed away aged 45 of a misdiagnosed and aggressive cancer. He had written his will in 2007 the same year he bought a property. He bought it as both an investment and a place for his parents to live as they had told him they kept having to move because of bad landlords. His will was very straightforward, the parents could live there until they died or decided to move (something called a living interest i think). Ownership of the property was to be passed equally to our two daughters now aged 20 and 15. I am the executor but not a beneficiary. Our daughters cannot do anything with the house until it is empty and they have both reached the age of 25. About six months before he died there was an incident with a blocked upstairs toilet that resulted in it overflowing into the kitchen below with significant damage to the ceiling and electrics. A claim was put in to the insurance which resulted in an £11,000 payout in the weeks before he died, his parents are fully aware of this.
The day after he died his mum came round with a copy of the will she found at the property pointing various things out to me but was insistent that the insurance money was not to be included as part of his estate, that it should be withdrawn from his account and given to her to spend on the house repairs and to have a conservatory built on the back like her son had apparently always wanted her to have. My solicitor was of the opinion that me taking the funds from his account after his death, for anything other than funeral costs was not a good idea and probably illegal. I explained this to her and shortly after received a letter from a solicitor she had visited implying I was being underhanded with this money in some way and with preventing her spending it on the repairs (and the conservatory). It was explained to me that money in a persons account at the time of their death becomes part of their estate regardless of how it got there. His parents actively objected to me using the solicitors i had gone to as they said because a friend of mine worked there who my partner didnt get on with there was a conflict of interest and eventually i gave in and used the solicitors they had visited and whom had helped my partner write his will.
Due to numerous issues with the solicitors of their choice, this seemingly clear cut will is still not settled, the bill is going to be double what it would have cost had we stayed with my solicitor and mother in law is on the warpath again, she says the solicitors have spent the insurance money illegally on costs and also on paying off some unsecured debts my partner had outstanding, that she is going to tell the insurance company who will sue them to recover it. I could go on and on, she is currently pretending to like me again whilst this is going on, but my daughters have informed me her and her husband are bad mouthing me to anyone who will listen, including them, so i assume at some point they are going to again point the finger at me for something.
So my questions are...
1. The £11,000 insurance payout, because she keeps going on about it insisting its not and never should have been included as part of the estate but should have been given to her to make repairs (and get a conservatory).....is she right? Is it legal or not to remove that sum of money from a deceased persons account just after their death because it came from an insurance claim. If I had done as they asked (and i never would have) could i technically have been stealing from the estate on their behalf. I want to put her straight once and for all if thats the case.
2. Can an insurance company do what she says, ie..insist the money is recovered from the estate and used for repairs and do they do this?
3. If she was to get hold of that money instead of it paying off his unsecured debts and solicitors costs, could anyone he owed money to pursue any unpaid money from my daughters as his beneficiaries?
I have always said that any money left after everythings paid should go to my partners property for repairs. When the insurance initially paid out it was agreed by both him and his parents that the 11,000 far exceeded the amount needed to get the work done. His mother was heard on numerous occasions by many different people pestering my partner about a conservatory while he was ill, taking up leaflets to the hospice to show him trying to get him to sign blank cheques and is telling anyone who will listen that this was what he had always wanted for her. To be clear (and im sorry if i sound petty) what he told numerous people was that he wasnt wasting money on a conservatory so his parents could fill the house with even more animals and it could be a new dog toilet. He loved his mum but he hated the way they lived, the house stinks, the animals have caused lots of damage and they keep getting more pets. I dread to think what state the house my daughters will inherit is going to be in. My eldest went to dog sit recently, she was supposed to stay over night but couldnt as the smell was making her physically sick.
I'm trying to play nice out of respect for my late partner but im reaching the end of the line with it all. I'm in a new relationship now and shes taken to asking anyone and everyone including my daughters how long its been going on and trying to dig up dirt on the new person in my life, the woman is relentless, the sooner the will is sorted the sooner i can cut ties with her, ive had 22 years of her not having anything nice to say about anyone and i just want her gone now. Sorry if i sound ruthless.
Thanks in advance if anyone can help xx
The day after he died his mum came round with a copy of the will she found at the property pointing various things out to me but was insistent that the insurance money was not to be included as part of his estate, that it should be withdrawn from his account and given to her to spend on the house repairs and to have a conservatory built on the back like her son had apparently always wanted her to have. My solicitor was of the opinion that me taking the funds from his account after his death, for anything other than funeral costs was not a good idea and probably illegal. I explained this to her and shortly after received a letter from a solicitor she had visited implying I was being underhanded with this money in some way and with preventing her spending it on the repairs (and the conservatory). It was explained to me that money in a persons account at the time of their death becomes part of their estate regardless of how it got there. His parents actively objected to me using the solicitors i had gone to as they said because a friend of mine worked there who my partner didnt get on with there was a conflict of interest and eventually i gave in and used the solicitors they had visited and whom had helped my partner write his will.
Due to numerous issues with the solicitors of their choice, this seemingly clear cut will is still not settled, the bill is going to be double what it would have cost had we stayed with my solicitor and mother in law is on the warpath again, she says the solicitors have spent the insurance money illegally on costs and also on paying off some unsecured debts my partner had outstanding, that she is going to tell the insurance company who will sue them to recover it. I could go on and on, she is currently pretending to like me again whilst this is going on, but my daughters have informed me her and her husband are bad mouthing me to anyone who will listen, including them, so i assume at some point they are going to again point the finger at me for something.
So my questions are...
1. The £11,000 insurance payout, because she keeps going on about it insisting its not and never should have been included as part of the estate but should have been given to her to make repairs (and get a conservatory).....is she right? Is it legal or not to remove that sum of money from a deceased persons account just after their death because it came from an insurance claim. If I had done as they asked (and i never would have) could i technically have been stealing from the estate on their behalf. I want to put her straight once and for all if thats the case.
2. Can an insurance company do what she says, ie..insist the money is recovered from the estate and used for repairs and do they do this?
3. If she was to get hold of that money instead of it paying off his unsecured debts and solicitors costs, could anyone he owed money to pursue any unpaid money from my daughters as his beneficiaries?
I have always said that any money left after everythings paid should go to my partners property for repairs. When the insurance initially paid out it was agreed by both him and his parents that the 11,000 far exceeded the amount needed to get the work done. His mother was heard on numerous occasions by many different people pestering my partner about a conservatory while he was ill, taking up leaflets to the hospice to show him trying to get him to sign blank cheques and is telling anyone who will listen that this was what he had always wanted for her. To be clear (and im sorry if i sound petty) what he told numerous people was that he wasnt wasting money on a conservatory so his parents could fill the house with even more animals and it could be a new dog toilet. He loved his mum but he hated the way they lived, the house stinks, the animals have caused lots of damage and they keep getting more pets. I dread to think what state the house my daughters will inherit is going to be in. My eldest went to dog sit recently, she was supposed to stay over night but couldnt as the smell was making her physically sick.
I'm trying to play nice out of respect for my late partner but im reaching the end of the line with it all. I'm in a new relationship now and shes taken to asking anyone and everyone including my daughters how long its been going on and trying to dig up dirt on the new person in my life, the woman is relentless, the sooner the will is sorted the sooner i can cut ties with her, ive had 22 years of her not having anything nice to say about anyone and i just want her gone now. Sorry if i sound ruthless.
Thanks in advance if anyone can help xx
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