No will, no way?
Question
My Dad died about a year ago, it's been really hard coping, but it's all been made worse by the family wrangling over money.
The three of us (my brother and my sister and I) were named as the beneficiaries on a pension plan he'd been paying into. My mother and father had been divorced for a long time and she didn't want any of the money so we received a chunk of money from the pension plan and it all seemed to be OK. But since the money came through my Dad's partner has been saying she wants the money and can claim it from us.
It's all just such a mess. Can she do this? Can she just take all this money? It just seems so unfair.
Answer
You don't say whether your father left a will or not. If he died intestate, (without leaving a will) then his unmarried partner has no right of inheritance under the intestacy rules and his estate would come to you and your siblings, but not to your mother because they were divorced.
Although your father's partner has no claim on the estate under the intestacy rules, she could still make a claim under the rules laid down in the Inheritance Act 1975, as can your mother. Any claims under these rules will have to be made to a court and you would need to use a lawyer to work on the case, as they can be complicated. If there is a will then things are rather more straightforward, in that she would have to challenge the will and you would need to defend it.
You can get more information about this subject from the Community Legal Service.
Updated: 11/03/2005
Question answered by CAB
