Next of kin

[nicojo]

My Father refuses to write a will & believes that if he were to die his estate would automatically be distributed between his 3 children. My older brother lives with my Father & neither my younger sister or I have a relationship with him. I am concerned primarily about being notified of my Father's death as I am uncertain if my brother would inform me & my sister about it.

Would my Father's solicitor try to make contact with my sister & I in the event of my Father's death? Would his estate be distributed if he died with no will or would it just be given to my brother who is the immediate next of kin?

[vicars]

If there are children but no surviving spouse then the children take the whole of the estate in equal shares. However if you all died together then this would change the position but I will not go into this as this is very unlikely. There may be issues over dependancy and joint ownership or use and it is this that may cause issues. If one of his children dies as well, the dead person's relatives will be entitled to no share so if he wants to provide for the grandchildren he had better write a will. if he wnats to keep it in the 'immediate' family then he may get away with no will but considering the family circumstances he must write a will if he wants to guarantee you get equal shares as any legal battle will drain the estate.

[KenR]

This sounds pretty much like what happened when my gran died in the 90's. Three kids (my dad and two aunts), but nothing could be touched for three months as without a will she basically died intestate. This is seemingly basically to allow for any other potential claims to be made.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administration_of _an_estate_on_death
I am sure someone else here can give you more to go on, but it would not seem that it would be up to just him and it would be split evenly. Much safer however if he made even a simple will.

[nicojo]

Thank you vicars. There is no spouse, just the 3 of us children & my son, his only grandchild. My brother has his own house so would not be able to argue that he would need to continue living in my Father's house, but he would certainly fight for everything he could get!

My main concern is being notified in the event of his death. Do you know how contact would be made? Would a solicitor have to try to trace any immediate family?

[nicojo]

Thanks KenR. It really is frustrating that he will not make a will. I have been trying to persuade him for years, even getting documents from WHSmith to encourage him, to no avail. He has talked about it more since I have had a son, but no action. Not only will he leave a property behind, but he also has various business involvements & it will be messy if he does not sort it out beforehand.

[Maggoty]

Nicojo - events do not happen that quickly so surely "being notified of his death" wouldn't be an issue as I presume that you are still in contact with your dad

[dzug]

Unless your brother is very dishonest, it will not 'automatically be distributed' amongst the three of you. Somebody has to do it, and they need legal authority to do it.

Unless it's a very small estate, Letters of Administration will be needed, and unless your brother denies your existence to the solicitor and the Probate Office, they are likely to insist that at least one other person is named as Administrator.

So apart from arguments with your brother you've nothing to worry about.