Uncles Estate - late ex wife's sister making claim

S

Sj7791

Registered User
Messages
23
Hi, my uncle died in March, myself and my brother are his only surviving relatives. His is dated 1985 Will named our father as executor & beneficiary, however our father predesceased him by 2 years, and our mother also predesceased him by 1 year. The complication is that our uncle was married, in 1978, and separated after a year. His ex wife passed away last week, and her (estranged) sister is now looking to claim his estate. We have a copy of the separation agreement, where they both relinquish claim on each others estate, however this is not signed. The agreement was acted upon, spousal maintenance was paid, their marital home was sold. Our uncle and his ex wife/her family had no contact for the last 40 years, except a letter from her annually requesting maintenance, and a cheque sent by him. His ex wife had a new partner for 20 odd years, although they never married, as she had not divorced our uncle. My question is, how do we stop her family claiming his estate, I know emotion doesn't matter in law but my parents picked up the pieces of their broken marriage, and myself and my brother nursed him for his last few years, and I am shocked and disgusted that her sister, a few days after her death would now be looking for anything from our Uncle. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
 
It’s problematic that he was never divorced. You should talk to a solicitor as I think the sister may well have a claim.
 
Sj7791 said:
how do we stop her family claiming his estate
Click to expand...
You don't. This is a democratic country; everyone has the right to bring a case.

What you can do however is employ a reputable Solicitor to handle it & not the dodgy crew you have been dealing with.
 
Sj7791 said:
We have a copy of the separation agreement, where they both relinquish claim on each others estate, however this is not signed.
Click to expand...
If it was a judicial separation ruled on by a court/judge then surely there's a signed copy in the court's records? Your solicitor should be able to assist with this? But, as mentioned previously, maybe not the one that you had trouble getting your money from...
 
The copy of the agreement you have that isn't signed, is this just a copy? Was the original perhaps with the will or with the solicitor? I know I have a similar agreement and the one I have in my files is a copy of the original draft which we were both given to approve but not the actual signed one which is the same wording but signed by both parties, that is with my solicitor.
 
thanks all, unfortunately the separation was in 1978, and the solicitor has since passed away and the firm no longer exists, I am currently trying to get in touch with the courts to see if they would archive back that far......

I'm definitely not going through my own divorce solicitor, it would cost me the balance of my inheritance, just to ask her
 
Doesn't the will state clearly that the beneficiary of the estate was your father and then in turn to his wife and then siblings ? If so, how can she claim anything ?
 
You can't disinherit your legal spouse.

If Uncle John was still legally married to Aunt Mary, Mary is entitled to her legal share.

If Mary then dies intestate, her estate is divvied out per the Succession Act.
 
There's a number of things that make little sense here:
  1. Why was there annual maintenance for forty years? It was a one year marriage, no mention of children, and sale of assets
  2. Divorce has been legal since June 1996. It seems odd that both parties allowed a quarter of a century to pass without seeking to make use of it
  3. What legal status could a separation agreement signed before the Judicial Separation Act of 1989 even have? Unless I am mistaken, the terms of the Succession Act applied, and indeed continued to do so unless a separation or divorce was granted by a court.


OP may be surmising, or relying on rumour or anecdote that was false.
 
I’m guessing aunty Mary’s will included some reference to her estranged husband or else the annual payment was noticed by whoever was sorting out her estate and they looked further into it.

This country was full of such matters back in the day.
 
  • Divorce has been legal since June 1996. It seems odd that both parties allowed a quarter of a century to pass without seeking to make use of it.
It's not that unusual - I've done at least 5 late in life Divorces, years after informal separations where people finally decided to formalise matters. In one case, it was because of a terminal illness and he wanted to regularise matters for both his soon to be ex-wife and long term partner. In another, very early stage dementia drove a desire (for both parties) to transfer property out of joint names so that the offspring solely would benefit on the death of the wife.

  • What legal status could a separation agreement signed before the Judicial Separation Act of 1989 even have? Unless I am mistaken, the terms of the Succession Act applied, and indeed continued to do so unless a separation or divorce was granted by a court.
Perfectly legal. We were cobbling together contractually binding agreements long before 1989- people wanted to move on with their lives , with certainty. We couldn't deal with pensions - only a Court can make binding orders, but we could sort out other issues.

mf1
 
mf1 said:
  • Divorce has been legal since June 1996. It seems odd that both parties allowed a quarter of a century to pass without seeking to make use of it.
It's not that unusual
Click to expand...
Yep. Two family members are in this position. One judicially separated for decades but for various complicated reasons neither party has sought a divorce. The other living separately for years but never even got judicially separated. Both family members live in a sort of limbo because of these unresolved situations hanging over them/their families! I'm only marginally better having taken more than a decade after judicial separation to finally get divorced!
 
A friend of my mothers is in her early ‘70s and is separated. He pays her maintenance, he’s generous according to her. They’ve been living apart for 40 years. The main reason.. according to her, life insurance and pension… I did say that if they did divorce matters like that would be covered but he’s a decade older than her and she says she’s not bothered now. Their kid is grown up. They’ve both made wills leaving everything to each other or their child.

Dunno what will happen if one of them needs nursing home care, she lives in marital home he owns a flat. Could be messy if they needed fair deal to cover costs maybe. Dunno. Maybe it’s simpler.
 
Dr Strangelove said:
OP may be surmising
Click to expand...
In truth, none of that will matter in the end.

There's a document showing they were legally married.

If there is no corresponding document re separation / divorce; then they are still legally married.

So, for the OP

Step 1.
Find out who might have your late Uncles file.

Step 2.
Employ a competent, solvent, Solicitor and let them deal with it.
 
elcato said:
Doesn't the will state clearly that the beneficiary of the estate was your father and then in turn to his wife and then siblings ? If so, how can she claim anything ?
Click to expand...
So our uncles Will left everything to his mother, who died in 1995, then in turn to my father, his only brother, who predeceased him, and our mother, who also predeceased him, leaving myself and my brother as the only surviving relatives….
 
A lot of couples back then, before divorce was legal, either stayed unhappily married. Or split up with no official paperwork, with no desire to remarry…. Our uncle and this lady had no children. And she had a 30 year relationship with a new partner, who passed away a few years ago. The unsigned separation agreement we have for them is very detailed, all assets were to be split 50/50, house sold, no claim on each others estates, pensions, etc. she had quite a good job and our uncle was a Garda. Spousal maintenance seems madness, after a year or 2 together, with no children, and despite having a long term partner, she still wrote to our uncle every year, with her bank details every year to make sure he paid it.
 
ClubMan said:
And his wife who was still alive when he died.
Click to expand...
Yes sorry, his ex wife, he died in March & she died in a October. It was not a happy marriage, or break up and they didn’t not speak again after they separated, apart from her letter for maintenance. The documents describing their marriage were not a pleasant read…..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register