A pal has just died intestate. I've known him for some 40 years and to the best of my knowledge he has no living relatives. And only a handful of friends. The estate won't be large - certainly under 100,000 mainly in cash and possessions. No dwelling involved - that is a council flat. He had a reasonable income from several pensions. Aged 68.
Any tips on how to do things most easily - it will be down to his friends to see to the initial arrangements.
Try uk.rec.legal or the moderated version for better advice.
It only goes to the crown if there really ARE no living relatives. However, there may be some forty-second cousins living in Australia who are entitled to a surprise inheritance. For a cut of the loot, and if it's worth their while, there are firms who try and track them down.
I know that. But there will be immediate expenses like the funeral and whatever. One pal is named as next of kin on the medical stuff, and has access to his bank account for paying bills etc - he'd been in hospital for some time. And had got a solicitor to draft a will - but it never got signed and witnessed. He did see the solicitor in person, though.
Not sure I could cope with that lot. ;-)
I suggest a better starting point is
If the pal has been handling the bank etc without formal power of attorney it might be a good idea not to make any substantial payments or commitments - eg funeral - w/o better cover.
Well I think you'd cope perfectly well if you keep in mind an angle grinder to apply (virtually of course) if it gets nasty :)
If the "pal" has power of attorney, that ceases immediately upon death.
Irrelevant. If the will is not legal, it doesn't exist.
How much do you want to get involved?
It's very unlikely that he has *no* living relatives - but he may have no *close* relatives. If you want to avoid his money all going to the Crown, it shouldn't be too difficult to find some relatives. Do you know anyone with a subscription to FindMyPast or Ancestry, coupled with the knowledge of how to search through Birth/Marriage/Death records to find family members?
if there is no will and no relatives it all goes to the state after deducting costs. I would leave it to a solicitor as you get nothing from it and all the grief when it goes wrong. You could get a firm of heir hunters involved as they will search for relatives and they have their own databases, culled from public records, they can check, quickly.
Deffo the moderated one.
Nick
In my understanding, it's a deal more complicated than if the will is signed or not.
If there was an older, signed will, that would take precedence AIUI. But without, a verbal statement alone can be a will (just as it can be a contract), as can unsigned documents that can be shown to be reasonably likely to be what was intended.
One grandfather of mine died in a similar state with regards to will, and it was possible to have his will validated (or whatever the term is) after his death, but it was a more complicated procedure involving the courts. That was over 50 years ago though.
They take a very big percentage; there was something about it in the papers a few months back. They also get the information after some months/years with no relatives being found and are in a contract race with each other. I don't see they'd be able to anything an amateur ancestry researcher could do for kicks and giggles. A solicitor winding up the estate might do some searches.
Fee hunters;
=A0 London SW
Some official guidance from UK government:
(also mentions that unsigned wills are considered as guidance)
For a "power of attorney" then that is correct (in fact it would cease at the point the granter becomes mentally incapable), however if he setup an enduring power of attorney, then that will still be active.
Everything has changed. Enduring power of attorneys no longer exist.
I no longer know what's going on, then.
You can no longer create one as easily as before, but an equivalent exists. Also any existing EPOA will still be functional.
IIRC it changed a couple of years ago - they govt of the day decided it needed "simplifying" and we all know what happens when they do that.
AIUI, its tied in with the "living will" stuff now...
Enduring powers of attorney do still exist (and have effect). I think you had in mind that they cannot now be *made* (having be succeeded by "lasting powers of attorney").
Which you don't get now you need "Lasting Power of Attorney" which has to be registered with a QANGO and cost you =A3120 (ish) and if there is a single mistake on the form you don't get the LPA and you loose your =A3120... There are two types as well, one relating to money/assets and another realting to health/medical. A couple needing both, as one might as one gets older, is looking at =A3500 to get 'em registered and legal.
Even if they took 50% I am sure the long lost relatives would like the rest.
The companies have their own databases which allows them to find relatives easier than someone looking through the actual public records. The solicitor could do some searches or just hand it over to a heir hunting company after taking his cut.
the real question is how far down doing a will did the guy get? it doesn't have to be a written will, if the solicitor recorded anything it may be good enough to stop the estate going to the crown.
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