Am I entitled to my late husbands inhetitance

[Nicola forbes]

I was married to my husband and have a daughter who is now 19 years old
My husband died in 1996 when our daughter was 5 months old
His family had nothing to do with us after his death as they did not agree with the biracial relationship which ours was
We have had zero contact with them
Recently my husbands father died and left two wills
One was not witnessed and I believe they had to revert to an earlier will that was
In this will my husband was left a quarter of his fathers asserts
While this does not add up to much and my husband had 3 other children from two other women before me none of whom he married
I know the family will not give either myself nor his daughter anything
Am I or my daughter entitled to anything and if so how do I go about receiving it as I know my husband would want me to

[stevemLS]

Re: Am I entitled to my late husbands inhetitance

Hi and welcome

Sorry to say that where a beneficiary pre-deceases the testator, the bequest lapses and you have no entitlement to it.

There is an article discussing it here http://www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk/re...of-beneficiary which also discusses some special cases - it would appear that your daughter MIGHT have some claim on the estate. (Look at the 2nd type of case in the article.)

Be warned though, probate disputes appear to be some of the most contentious and expensive types of litigation that there is. Your daughter needs to think very carefully before embarking on any legal challenge.

[des8]

Re: Am I entitled to my late husbands inhetitance

Hi and welcome.
Unfortunately from your point of view if a beneficiary dies before the testator,the general rule is the gift lapses.
However section 33(1) of the Wills Act 1837 provides that where a legacy is made to a testators offspring who predeceases the testator , then
if there are children of the beneficiary those children will inherit their late father's share.
So basically your daughter is entitled to a share in her father's inheritance, as are his other children.

1. Crossed with Steve (again!)

[Nicola forbes]

Re: Am I entitled to my late husbands inhetitance

Thank you that is good news as I was going to split it between the children anyway so it looks as if they will each receive a share of their dads money, good outcome.

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you both, we wont contest it if they don't share it equal but it is nice to know the children are entitled to a share each.