Heir Hunters Q

[Olde Crone]

Marg

Assuming no will, yes, correct, the remaining spouse would have to sell the house to give the children their share, unless they could all come to a friendly agreement, or the spouse had enough money to pay them off.

Julie

We had a case a few years ago here where an elderly unmarried VERY RICH lady with no relatives left instructions in her will that her house and gardens were to remain untouched but maintained by her extremely adequate assets. Her house was on a prime piece of land......somehow, some developers managed to get the terms of her will overturned and the house was demolished to make way for umpteen cardboard box houses. Every time I go past I wonder if she is hauntng them!

OC

[Kit]

Julie in Aus if you were dependent on the person you can claim on the estate. I don't like the idea of foster children being able to claim though, given the foster parents are paid to have them. What about the people who foster hundreds or thousands of children? Their estates would not be worth anything.

I can see those who remain with the parents and stay as family even into adulthood might have a claim but not any foster child.

[Margaret in Burton]

Originally Posted by Olde Crone

Marg

Assuming no will, yes, correct, the remaining spouse would have to sell the house to give the children their share, unless they could all come to a friendly agreement, or the spouse had enough money to pay them off.



OC

Oops, she could end up in queer st then as my mother would have put it.

She doesn't get on with one of her step children so he's going to say, sell up I want my money.

[JBee]

It also depends on how the couple own the home - one is that the house automatically goes to the spouse regardless. So no children inherit until their parent dies.

The other is that when one spouse dies they can leave their share to whoever they want.

Is it tenants in common? can't remember actual term.

Only challenge can be if a child is actually financially dependant on the deceased when they die and some financial arrangement then has to be made.

[Margaret in Burton]

I doubt it's the one where the spouse can leave their share to someone else.
No dependant children at all.

[JBee]

The solicitor may have suggested it when they took the mortgage out or added the other spouse. Am assuming they're married.

I would recommend it if there was a chance of the surviving spouse remarrying and leaving everything to his new spouse and dis-inheriting the children.

Do remember seeing Heir Hunters programme where a couple divorced and mother remarried. The son was adopted by his step-father but in his teens the boy got to know his natural father. When natural father died everyone including perhaps the father thought that his son would inherit but no it went to cousins as he'd been adopted out of the family.

I wouldn't have thought a surviving spouse would have to sell the house to give some proceeds to children - they would only inherit on the death of the surviving spouse. Whether it was the husband's or wife's children depending on who dies first and of course the child of the marriage.

[Olde Crone]

JBee

We are talking about intestacy - the law says that half goes to the legal spouse and half to children of the marriage. When there are dependent children, the law would usually allow the living spouse to stay in the property until the children are of age but once they ARE of age, then the law takes its course.

If you make a will, you can leave whatever you want to whoever you want, that's the whole point of making a will. If you don't make a will, then the law of intestacy takes over.

OC

[JBee]

Thanks OC -

I thought the first £250,000 of the estate went to the spouse - so if only the house was involved it had to be worth £500,000 for the children's inheritance to be involved.

http://theprobatedepartment.co.uk/rules-of-intestacy/

[Olde Crone]

JBee

Yes, I think they upped the amounts a few years ago because of the phenomenal rise in house prices! You could easily own quite a modest house in London which was worth more than £250k though.

In the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, intestacy used to mean that the Duchy got half.

I certainly would not rely on the rules of intestacy to protect my position in life!

OC

[JBee]

If they own a house jointly then it would have to be worth £500,000 minus mortgage and I don't think the majority of us have that sort of equity in our homes.

OH and I have finally got around to writing our wills - cheap deal at solicitors but many charities will do them for a small donation.

Mines simple everything to OH and his OH everything to me - though I said I'd come back and haunt him if he ever disinherited the kids.