Am I entitled to anything from my late fathers estate?

[Jim Rogers]

I was born in January 1967 to married parents.
.
My mother left my father (and eventually divorced him) in approximately 1976 or 1977 and my younger brother and I went with my mother to live with a man who was to become our step father

My younger brother (now deceased) and I continued to see my father once a week until around 1982 when we stopped seeing our father altogether (I am not quite sure why)

I have not seen my father since.

Soon after my mother left him, my father married a lady who already had 2 girls from a previous marriage and then had 3 sons with her (One of those sons passed away a few years ago)
My father ran a hotel while he was alive and the hotel is now being run by my half brother and his wife (who I have no contact with).

My father passed away on the 6^th Nobember 2015.

I have searched on the https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate website but I cannot find any record of a will being made.

I would hazard a guess that the current value of the hotel is well over £500,000

What I would like to know is, as his eldest son, I am entitled to any share of his estate or the hotel?

Thanks for any replies.

[des8]

You say there is no record of a will, but was there a record of letters of administration being issued?

How was the hotel owned? e.g. wholly by your father, jointly with his wife or by a company he may have owned, or owned jointly with his wife?.. check land registry records here https://www.gov.uk/search-property-i...-land-registry

Basically if your father dies intestate his wife inherits:
-all the personal property and belongings of your father and
-the first £250,000 of the estate, and
-half of the remaining estate.

Anything jointly owned would pass to his surviving wife

The balance would be divided between the children.

[2222]

You also don’t know whether your father disposed of some or all of his assets during his lifetime.

[Jim Rogers]

You say there is no record of a will, but was there a record of letters of administration being issued?

How was the hotel owned? e.g. wholly by your father, jointly with his wife or by a company he may have owned, or owned jointly with his wife?.. check land registry records here https://www.gov.uk/search-property-i...-land-registry

Basically if your father dies intestate his wife inherits:
-all the personal property and belongings of your father and
-the first £250,000 of the estate, and
-half of the remaining estate.

Anything jointly owned would pass to his surviving wife

The balance would be divided between the children.

Thanks,
I looked on the Land Registry website and got the following:
"Sorry, we do not have a record of any titles for this property. This does not necessarily mean that the property is unregistered"

[des8]

If unregistered it's not going to be easy, but you could :

• check adjoining registered properties for clues, they may refer to a deed or document which affected not only that registered title but also ‘other land’. The other land may have included the unregistered part and the deed/document will refer to the parties to the deed, which may give a clue as to the owner on a specific date;
• search county or local authority records for clues – Yorkshire and Middlesex have their own deeds registries (to make a search you need to know the name of previous or current owners), while other counties have County Records Offices;
• check with the local authority to see if any planning applications have been submitted over the years. By law, applicants currently have to sign either a Certificate A to say they are the owner or Certificate B where they say they have served notice on the owner who they have to name; and
• check your local electoral register.

In any event I think you need to consider what your possible share might be against the cost of obtaining it.
If the estate was worth £500,000 there would be left £125,000 (less expenses) for distribution to his children.
Possibly 5 or 7 depending on whether or not any were adopted, so around £20,000 each.
Bear in mind contentious litigation is expensive, and if the other heirs have spent their shares already you still might receive nothing even if you even if you win!

[Jim Rogers]

I emailed my step-mother who replied "Your father did leave a will, his will declared that as his spouse I am the sole benefactor of his estate"

So that is the end of that.

Thanks again for your help and advice,

[2222]

You ought to be able to trace the estate if she applied correctly for probate.*