intestate register?

[briangarf]

My father died with an estate of around £2.2m.

I believed that he had a will. Our of interest, I have been looking for his will on the probate services website. Nearly 3 years on from his death there is still no probate record.

I am beginning to think that there is the possibility that he did not have a will and died intestate. My sibling is ignoring emails.

Is there any way of finding out if my father died without leaving a will?

For inheritance tax reasons, I believe my sibling is trying to leave everything in 'limbo' until my ailing mother dies. At which point they can pay iht liabilities without too much upheavel.

If he did leave a will, at what point would the executors have to notify me?

Any enlightenment on this would be much appreciated.

[dslippy]

Did he have a firm of solicitors he used regalrly?
There is no intestate register.
It needs sorting out. What does your mother say. Talk to her about all this while you can.
In the absence of a will she would have priority fpr a grant of letters of administration.
There would be bo duty on the executors to notify you of anything unless you were a beneficiary.
Talk to your sibling about anything and everything, and keep on doing so.

[briangarf]

dslippy, Thank you very much for taking the time to get back to me.

I got on with my father. But do not get on with my mother or sibling.

It's a very complicated family business. I saw an invoice in the office from a barrister (the chambers are known for their being hard hitting). When I looked up the barrister, he deals with contentious wills, probates, intestacy.

My father used various solicitors dependant upon the matter. I have given them a call and they have told me that they cannot confirm whether they are dealing with anything.

My mother is 98 and my sibling is her mouthpiece. I can never be alone with her as she is guarded by my sibling 24/7.

In the event that my father left no will, I understand that I would be entitled to a legislatively calculated proportion of his estate.

When someone dies intestate, can the the administrator of the estate simply hold things up for an elongated period and not inform those who are entitled to parts of the estate?

I strongly suspect things are being held up until my mother has dies. That way the estate will not need splitting up as such

[dslippy]

To be fair, it might be a bit much for your mother at that age to take on rseponsibility as administrator.

When someone dies, there is no administrator until a court appoints one. There is nobody on whom a duty to keep you informed might fall.