Inheritance or not!

W

Wellintended

Registered User
Messages
5
Hello, wondered if someone could clarify or give an opinion for me please.

In my late uncles will he has a farm and left me 'a site to build or take the value of' which I get 6 years after the death of my Aunt (his wife) She has many years left I hope.

The questions
1. It does not say where the site is
2. How much land the site should be

In my opinion the inheritance is not really realisable I'm 62 years old. Aunt is 73.

Is this right? It feels like he has not actually left me anything.

Is there a legal definition of the size of a site of land to build a house.

Would welcome any clarity or views on this.

Thanks in advance
 
Last edited:
Who are the other beneficiaries? Is there anyone other than your Aunt? Would it be possible to have a conversation with them/her?

Why is there a wait of 6 years after the death of your aunt before you get any benefit?

Is there any reason why you should inherit anything at all from your late uncle?

Other than that, presumably , 6 years after your aunt dies, you can enquire, of your later uncle's and aunt's executors , about your claim. It may be possible to reach agreement on where and how big a site should be or the value of same. Or not.

Background and context are important - if everything is likely to be amicable, it should be easy enough to talk about it. Otherwise, if talking and resolution is not possible, then only a Court application will resolve it. A Court would look at the totality of the situation, what the real intention of the Uncle was, where a site could be carved out of the estate and what size it should be etc.,etc

mf
 
Thank you MF for replying. My uncle and aunt never had any children. My 3 sisters and brother are the only remaining family and we all were treated like their own children. Our parents have passed.

My uncles will bypassed my aunt giving her a life interest or she had to elect to take her legal share. She has decided to take the life interest. The will leaves the farm to my sister when aunt passes. The remained of us 3 have 'a site of land to build on or have the value of' 6 years after the death of my aunt, and in the event of any of our deaths he has instructed the 'site or value of' should go to our children. We don't understand the thought process or intentions of the 6 year wait after her death. Was hoping maybe someone on here would know if it's some legislation he was trying to comply with!

The harsh reality of this is that although my aunt has elected to take her life interest, she is terribly upset that he has done this and not left it to her and has only done so as it was his wish. She's is 73 and basically doing what's she was told albeit his wish.

It has caused a once happy family to be at loggerheads, the executors are 2 sisters one of who is the main beneficiary and they are not really telling any of the beneficiaries anything. Furthermore the odds are probably against us all surviving to realise this inheritance. I'm 62 have a sister 3years older.

As a lay person I think that's it's messy but would welcome perhaps some pointers on the legalities of of his bequests before someone advises me to go to a solicitor. The estate is worth about €300,000.
 
Given that your aunt was legally entitled to 50% of your uncle's assets, I am puzzled as to why she has only elected to opt for the life interest. Was she independently advised? Did your sisters influence her? If your aunt had taken 50% of the assets, she could have made gifts directly to you.

it is very unfortunate that your uncle did not specify the precise sites that he wished to leave. I saw one will where the beneficiaries were offered poor quality half acre sites etc, and as a result the family fell out.

The best way to avoid a festering will is to organise a "family conference" which should be chaired by a trusted family advisor or uncle/aunt, sitting around a table and agreeing on a solution that is acceptable to everyone. Ideally the chairperson should have mediation skills.

Jim Stafford
 
Thank you Jim, unfortunately I think we have gone past any amicable resolution. The will has split the family. Its suspected that the main beneficiary had influenced our uncle, and she certainly had a part to do with our aunts decision on election as she told her that if she took her legal right that the land would have to be sold. My aunt would do anything to avoid the sale of the land. We could never prove that she unduly influenced uncle and with regard aunt she would probably deny she did this. The sad thing about this is that until he passed none of us had any experience of dealing with a will. I have browsed the Internet and found so many people with as sad a story to tell. It would appear that the last will and testimony brings out a greed in people that is unimaginable and the people you thought you knew, you never really did. I was hoping I could get some insight into the legalities of this will on this forum and I thank you all for your help but I guess we will have to let it go or go to the expense of getting a solicitor. We certainly have not got the money to get into complex legal battles, so I guess the executor hold all the cards. Justices seems to be a little unfair and not really challengeable unless you have very deep pockets.
 
All indications are that you are on a stocky wicket here Wellintended. The will clearly states that you are only entitled to a "site" 6 years after the death of your Aunt. I.e nothing until then. She holds a life interest so to some extent the executor will have difficulties in transferring the remainder interest of the property to your sister given the unknown issues of site transfers to your other siblings. Given the vagueness of the transfers it is unlikely that a solicitor was involved in drawing up the will. If one was he may well be in a position to clarify your Uncles actual intentions. Either way no asset transfer can take place until your Aunt has passed.
 
44brendan said:
Given the vagueness of the transfers it is unlikely that a solicitor was involved in drawing up the will.
Click to expand...

Many will disputes are simply caused by poor drafting by the solicitor involved. Unlike 44brendan, I would not be surprised if a solicitor was involved in drafting the will!

If your Aunt is not prepared to exercise her legal entitlement to 50% of the estate, then you will be only entitled to a site. Before you go down the legal route I would urge you to attempt a "family conference".

Jim Stafford
 
Thank you all, we think the will was drafted by the executor (no evidence) but the executor tried to transfer uncles land into their names 6 days after his death (before the contents of the will was made known to the rest of us). It was witnessed by the solicitor. It's seems so messed up that I'm sure no legal professional would have drafted it. I shall try and arrange some form of family conference /mediation but I am not hopeful. I again thank you all for your input.
 
Perhaps this case shows the value of having a will drafted by a true professional. Without seeing all the text of the will it is difficult to be accurate but my impression from reading your position is that your uncles primary wish was for all the land to remain in the family. I understand that this is also seems to be the wish of your aunt because your uncle said so. But actually he did not, probably because of possible legal complications, he had to give your aunt an option.
My interpretation of the words you wrote from the will as meaning your uncle also wanted you to have a site to build, but if you did not build you would get the value 6 years after the death of your aunt. His primary aim probably was to ensure the continuity of the farm in the family. If following your aunts death the farm was burdened with the cost of paying for all sites immediately it might put pressure on the farm finances also forcing a sale.
Your uncle wanted to recognize you and your other siblings with a site with conditions. As you state it is probably not of any real use to you unless you have the wish and have the resources to build. Effectively, although this is was your uncles wish it reads to me as wanting to control everything to maintain the land. All this is so familiar to many Irish families.
You should get independent legal advice on the precise contents of the will. At least this will give you an idea whether or not it is viable to contest. Given the total estate value and the potential value of a site it will probably will not be of any real benefit to you. My advice is that the person who really needs your support now is your aunt. She should be 100% sure that the choice she has made is correct for her, he has not been forced in any way into option for a solution to suit someone else. After all she is still living is entitled to live the life of her choosing for the remainder of her life, she is still relatively young even at 73 these days!
 
Hi Woodie, I suspect you are right in all of what you said. My aunt will do as he wished and only have her life interest. It's a generation thing 'if that's what he wanted' etc. I know she's not happy about it but what will be will be. Our aunt is important to me and I also know that all this bickering is upsetting her. Time to let her grieve. I shall speak to the rest of them and hopefully we can try and sort this mess out. Thank you everyone for your comments it's been very useful, it made me sit back and think about what is really important. ‍‍‍
 
My husband left me nothing. Everything to adult children from previous marriage. First wife died. What am I entitled to he left family home to them. We had no children, I'm only dependent and made no written agreements. Am I entitled to family home?
 
inherBelle said:
My husband left me nothing. Everything to adult children from previous marriage. First wife died. What am I entitled to he left family home to them. We had no children, I'm only dependent and made no written agreements. Am I entitled to family home?
Click to expand...

(You should have started a new thread instead of posting this here)

Were you married to him.
When you say family home, is this the home you live in or the home he left and in which his children live.
If you are his wife you have a legal entitlement. And cohabiting couples have certain rights too.
Was there a will.
Did your husband own the family home outright.
Did he have other assets.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top