Sister died without leaving a will

[Tracy]

Hi my sister died without leaving a will her children were 20&18 at the time and she was only married for 3 years to her new husband having been widowed before he married her after she was diagnosed with cancer my sister wanted to make a will but was talked out of it by him
so she asked him to put both her children on the tenency as she was the only one on the rent book she lived in a council house with her previous husband and children
her new husband had had his house reposesed for none payment of morgage
before she married him
but he lied about there ages to the council told them they were both under 16
and so he only put his self down on the rent book
my niece moved out shortly before my sisters passing
and after my sister passed he empted her joint account she had with her 1st husband 2nd husbands name was not on it and threw my nephew out nephew went out and when he came back he had changed the locks
he has kept everything in the house saying it is his now
and moved a new women in
my question is has he broken any laws is there anything we can do
was the council at fault for not finding out my nephews age?
hope someone can help thanks

[wales01man]

Re: Sister died without leaving a will

He may of broken the law but as he took money from his wifes account might be hard to get anything done. He may be legally entitled to the possessions you would have to prove he is not?
Why should the council check their ages would expect they would believe what they were told.
Sorry your sister has gone but if this guys has behaved like this you will have a fight on your hands to beat him expect trouble from him all the way it will not be nice for you or you sisters children.

[des8]

Re: Sister died without leaving a will

Hi and welcome

I feel for your nehew and neice, but assuming they are in England or Wales, and your sisters estate was valued at less than £250,000, it all goes to her surviving husband.(https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-...d-wales/yes/no)

However your nephew and neice presumably had some personal property in the house, and this should be returned to them.

I doubt there is anything to be done about the transfer of tenancy not including your sister's children

[des8]

Re: Sister died without leaving a will

Further to my post above I was hoping that someone with more knowledge would pop up and say "hang on,There is The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, which allows for even adult children to make a claim against the intestate estate of their parents".
..... so I'm tagging others who will be able to advise in more detail [MENTION=85500]Peridot[/MENTION] [MENTION=87380]Diana M[/MENTION]

[enaid]

Re: Sister died without leaving a will

I would also add if the full facts re the tenancy had been told, that the children were old enough to take on the tenancy it was up to the council to decide who took over. The spouse does have priority normally but the kids have rights too re housing. Just mho but he has commited fraud

[Peridot]

Re: Sister died without leaving a will

Hi Tracy,
So sorry to hear about your sister. When did she pass away? Was a Grant of Letters of Administration obtained? (Basically Probate but it has different terminology where there is no Will).

Was she still supporting her children in any way financially at the time she died? If they were receiving any financial support even if mum bought their food shopping regularly for example or paid bills for them, they may be able to bring a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. However the claim should be made within 6 months of the Grant being made, hence my previous question. There are circumstances when this can be extended but it is not common. They would need specialist advice on this.

Have the children contacted the Council themselves to flag the issues? As Des8 mentioned if the children have personal belongings at the property they need this to be returned. Have they written to your sister's widower listing any items they believe are theirs and requesting their return?

Unfortunately any claim they make against their mother's estate will be costly (and if successful the cost will be paid by the estate, so reducing the available pot for any award), so it needs to be considered whether the estate value is sufficient to warrant a claim.

It may be worth them considering meeting with a solicitor under a free half hour or reduced fee, to obtain some advice on whether they could make a claim and the likely chances of them being successful in any claim, once they have considered the estate value ie savings, shares, property etc.

In the meantime I would recommend they write to their mother's widower listing items they believe are theirs and requesting their return by a set date, if not then threaten to take legal action. It is really tough as many items are no doubt mementos rather than of any significant value. They should ask at least mind and hopefully they can get some of the personal items returned to them.