Legal advice needed please

[HeadingNorth]

Sounds like the first wife is trying in on

 

She may genuinely believe that, when a man dies intestate, his son inherits most or all of his wealth and his current wife gets little or nothing.

 

I'm not sure of my facts but I believe Cyclone is right, that the current wife gets most/all and the son gets little/nothing. But even Cyclone will tell you that since he is just an anonymous poster on a forum, it is strongly advisable to get proper information from a solicitor. (In fact, he did.)

[Jeffrey Shaw]

Fair enough, the OP mentions a house which is owned outright with no mortgage though, so that circumstance would seem to not apply.

True, but it's possible to put a Life Assurance policy into trust for a spouse or Significant Other.

[Cyclone]

If he hasn't even got a will what's the chance that he's done something like that.

 

I was trying to give advice on what the basic case was, not an exhaustive list of possibilities, most of which I wouldn't know anyway.

[scousemouse]

Think I am correct in saying that if the house is joint names, the house will pass to the survivor, if it is tenants in common the proceeds of the house form part of the estate, so each should get half, of which children will be entitled to share the the deceased half(?)

[scousemouse]

..........that said it shows how VERY important it is to make a will, particularly if you are not married and there are children involved.

[Grandad.Malky]

She may genuinely believe that, when a man dies intestate, his son inherits most or all of his wealth and his current wife gets little or nothing.

 

I'm not sure of my facts but I believe Cyclone is right, that the current wife gets most/all and the son gets little/nothing. But even Cyclone will tell you that since he is just an anonymous poster on a forum, it is strongly advisable to get proper information from a solicitor. (In fact, he did.)

 

Doesn’t your first statement contradict your second ……….. but there is no doubting your last comment.

 

( oops re-read it ………. She may believe)

 

What are the rules of intestacy

 

When a person dies without leaving a valid will, their property (the estate) must be shared out according to certain rules. These are called the rules of intestacy. A person who dies without leaving a will is called an intestate person.

 

Only married or civil partners and some other close relatives can inherit under the rules of intestacy.

 

If someone makes a will but it is not legally valid, the rules of intestacy decide how the estate will be shared out, not the wishes expressed in the will.

For more information about what is a valid will, see Wills.

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Married partners and civil partners

 

Married partners or civil partners inherit under the rules of intestacy only if they are actually married or in a civil partnership at the time of death. So if you are divorced or if your civil partnership has been legally ended, you can’t inherit under the rules of intestacy. But partners who separated informally can still inherit under the rules of intestacy.

 

 

Jointly-owned property

 

Couples may jointly own their home. There are two different ways of jointly owning a home. These are beneficial joint tenancies and tenancies in common.

If the partners were beneficial joint tenants at the time of the death, when the first partner dies, the surviving partner will automatically inherit the other partner's share of the property. However, if the partners are tenants in common, the surviving partner does not automatically inherit the other person's share.