stepmother vs the children

[idilkachore]

Hi



I have a stepmother who has never travelled to UK but does have a spouse visa. My dad died recently. There is no will.

I have been told that according to the UK law my stepmother gets all of my dad's estate. Is this true?

If it is true, then what are my options?



Surely, she can't get everything, she has not contributed anything towards my dad's estate. Surely she can not be entitled to everything? It just seems unfair.

Any advice is highly appreciated.



Thanks

[des8]

Re: stepmother vs the children

Hi and welcome to LB.

Sorry to hear of your loss.
What you have been told is basically correct.
If your father's estate is less than £250,000, it all goes to his wife.
If it exceeds £250,000, the wife inherits £250,000 plus a life interest in half the remainder. The other half goes to the children.

However if you have been financially dependent on your father and think you have not received "reasonable financial provision" from the estate you may be able to make a claim using theInheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

[idilkachore]

Re: stepmother vs the children

Thanks for the information. I'll check out the link later.

That means that any young person can get married to an old man/lady knowing that most likely they will die soon and they will take their estate. Seems like a perfect scam .
It's difficult to get my head around this.

So I currently live in my dad's house and I have been paying all the bills even when my dad was alive.

My stepmother is in Pakistan. If she turns up tomorrow on my door step (dad's house), can she lawfully tell me to get out of the house or does he to first go through the courts? Can I tell her to get lost until she brings a court order?

[des8]

Re: stepmother vs the children

[QUOTE=idilkachore;522742]Thanks for the information. I'll check out the link later.

That means that any young person can get married to an old man/lady knowing that most likely they will die soon and they will take their estate. Seems like a perfect scam .
It's difficult to get my head around this. state
That's a good argument for not dying intestate.
So I currently live in my dad's house and I have been paying all the bills even when my dad was alive.
If you have paid for maintenance or renovation/improvements to the property you could claim for those
My stepmother is in Pakistan. If she turns up tomorrow on my door step (dad's house), can she lawfully tell me to get out of the house or does he to first go through the courts? Can I tell her to get lost until she brings a court order?[/QUOTE
As your sitting in the house she would need to obtain a court order.
But she could only do that after she had obtained letters of administration authorising her to deal with the estate (I assume the house was registered in your father's sole name and was not jointly owned and is free of mortgage.


What are the chances of her coming to this country?
The reason for asking is that someone has to deal with your father's estate, and as he died intestate it is his wife who should be applying for letters of administration.

[idilkachore]

Re: stepmother vs the children

Thank you very much. It gives me some assurance that I may be able to get something back.

I forgot to mention, my dad was admitted to hospital and was in a hospital for over a month. All of my siblings went over and stayed in Pakistan to care for him. He was in a private hospital and hospital fees were huge. My brother and I paid for all the hospital fees as well as all the expenditure related to his treatment eg medication. Also, there were other costs related to that, eg flights and car travel.

I took paid annual leave and when that finished I was on unpaid leave.

Would we be able to claim all this against my dad's estate?

My stepmother is definitely planning to come to UK. Whether or not she can legally travel to UK, I don't no. I have informed the home office of my dad's death and that her spouse visa conditions are now void since her husband is deceased.

Regards.

[des8]

Re: stepmother vs the children

I would suggest that when letters of administration are granted you and your brother lodge a claim with the administrator for the total cost of your father's medical care.
I don't know if there was any suggestion that paying for your father's care was a gift, but assume you would expect to be reimbursed these costs from your father if he had recovered.
You can also place a claim for all the other incidental costs.
If the administrator declines your claim, you can always then claim against the estate in the courts.
This does not mean you will be successful, but just issuing a court claim might persuade the administrator to meet your claim part way.
If the administrator employs a solicitor, be warned that things become expensive and the estate could soon be swallowed up by fees.

[idilkachore]

Re: stepmother vs the children

Thanks for assistance.

What do you mean by
If the administrator employs a solicitor, be warned that things become expensive and the estate could soon be swallowed up by fees.

Do both solicitors, there's and mine get there fees from my dad's estate? I thought I would pay my solicitor and she would pay hers.

[des8]

Re: stepmother vs the children

If you employ a solicitor, yes you pay.
If the administrator of an estate employs a solicitor to assist in dealing with the estate , the estate pays.
If she denies your claim and you take it to court, you will both probably employ specialist solicitors who deal with contentious probate. They are expensive, although you just might be able to make a conditional fee arrangement.