Told your mum died back in December 19

suzy06

New member
Jan 18, 2020
3
0
I went to visit mum today only to be told she died on 1st December 2019. As you can imagine it was a shock. Mums neighbour in the warden controlled home said he was told by my brother but was told not to tell anyone. The flat has been completely cleared out !!

It transpires that my brother has managed to get a joint account with mum and has put everything in place prior so he can have everything mum owned. She didnt have much but my point is why has he done this to me when i was the only one that ever cared? He lived up North so only came down when he really had to.

I have a will signed by mum and two residents from the home but never took it anywhere just kept it at home. Is there anything i can do to stop him having a free rein on mums funds from her bank. If he doesn't present a will then no one will contact me to see if i want to contest will they??
 

MaNaAk

Registered User
Jun 19, 2016
11,754
0
Essex
Oh Suzy!

I'm sorry to hear about this losing your mum would have been a shock without this trouble. Firstly I don't know which one of you had Power Of Attorney but I would suggest you contact her banks as soon as possible so that they can freeze her accounts. Can anyone else offer their advice please and also Suzy I would suggest you contact your mum's solicitors.

Good luck and hugs

MaNaAk
 

Marcelle123

Registered User
Nov 9, 2015
4,865
0
Yorkshire
How hurtful and how absolutely horrible. I hope a solicitor will be able to help you, should you wish to contest what has happened. Best wishes and sympathy.
 

Shedrech

Registered User
Dec 15, 2012
12,649
0
UK
hello @suzy06
such a shock for you
my condolences on the death of your mother

if you have a Will, I think you have to come forward ... I am not sure how your brother is acting on the estate, unless he has an earlier or later Will and is executor or does not know about the Will you have and has applied to Administer the estate
Power of Attorney ceases on the death of the donor and management of the person's finances etc passes to the executor

https://www.gov.uk/when-someone-dies
 

nitram

Registered User
Apr 6, 2011
30,081
0
Bury
I agree you need legal help.
Collect together as much information as you can

  • The will
  • Proof of who you are, where you live , solicitor has to 'know their client' , check requirement before going , and also that you are a daughter (assumed from username)
  • Date and place of death, hospital or home. This will enable solicitor to obtain copy of death certificate and close accounts etc.
If you are not an executrix under the will and your brother is an executor there will be problems, if you are both named he has no authority to act unilaterally, equally if he is not named.
Who are named?


If you go for legal help at some stage the executor(s) will have to decide how much they want to hand over to the solicitor.

If you both had equal shares of her estate this will be based on balance at date of death adjusted for any debits/credits and reasonable funeral expenses , brother cannot simply 'clear out the account'
 

Kikki21

Registered User
Feb 27, 2016
2,270
0
East Midlands
@suzy06 omg I’m so sorry for you to learn your mum died & you didn’t find out till now. I take it that your relationship with your brother is not great but to not tell you that your mother died sounds very dodgy indeed & although your brother may/may not have done things he shouldn’t do, well he may have done them anyway such as take money from her accounts.
If you know which solicitor your mum used then contact them for a will, hopefully it is the one that you have. Who is named as executor?
 

Wildflowerlady

Registered User
Sep 30, 2019
1,103
0
Condolences on the passing of your mum @suzy06.
I assume you know mum has left you something in her will. As long as it was signed and witnessed correctly it will be a valid document.
Real Question is has brother done enough to make sure you get nothing by putting all mum's finances in with his? I don't know but can only make assumptions.
I did read somewhere that you can contact any Probate Office to see if Letters Of Administration have been applied for in the absence of a Will but he may think he didn't need to do that and its very likely he didn't due to the Joint Account and you have indicated mum's estate is small.
Apparently if an estate is under £5000 most financial institutions will release that amount anyway without Letters Of Administration besides which he is/was actually a Joint Account holder so her name can just be removed. The fact he had a joint account with mum will make it difficult to prove what was actually his/hers and it sounds like he may well ignore her wishes and Terms of her Will. Do you have any proof of what was mum's money in the account it might give some leverage when the Will is produced and he might just feel guilty enough to honour mum's wishes without the need for taking things further.
I assume there were funeral expenses taken from the Joint Account is it possible that most of mum's money was used on that along with any remaining bills etc.? Is what you were expecting worth a lot of heartache if you have to fight for it and will it make you unwell trying to get it if its just a small amount anyway. Of course you must be the judge of whether its worth a fight to get what mum wanted you to have.

When my mum died in 2016 she left no Will she never did have much but was content. Mum's little insurance policy cost her more over the years than it paid out in fact it didn't even pay out enough for her funeral.
My mum had said she wanted me to have dads car when he stopped driving it was much, much younger than my old thing she said in front of dad she had paid for the car too insisted that I should have it. Dad became obsessed with money before he stopped driving due to his dementia and mum had died a few months earlier so I just took him to the garage and the car was sold and the money went into his account. My sister didn't drive but I would have felt guilty anyway as was still a financial gain to me had I taken car.
I didn't have the heart to remind dad what mum had said feeling more comfortable to let him sell it and have the money himself.

I hope you manage to get a satisfactory resolution to your problem and so sorry for your loss what a awful way to find out so presumably your brother kept mum's funeral secret too?.
 

suzy06

New member
Jan 18, 2020
3
0
Condolences on the passing of your mum @suzy06.
I assume you know mum has left you something in her will. As long as it was signed and witnessed correctly it will be a valid document.
Real Question is has brother done enough to make sure you get nothing by putting all mum's finances in with his? I don't know but can only make assumptions.
I did read somewhere that you can contact any Probate Office to see if Letters Of Administration have been applied for in the absence of a Will but he may think he didn't need to do that and its very likely he didn't due to the Joint Account and you have indicated mum's estate is small.
Apparently if an estate is under £5000 most financial institutions will release that amount anyway without Letters Of Administration besides which he is/was actually a Joint Account holder so her name can just be removed. The fact he had a joint account with mum will make it difficult to prove what was actually his/hers and it sounds like he may well ignore her wishes and Terms of her Will. Do you have any proof of what was mum's money in the account it might give some leverage when the Will is produced and he might just feel guilty enough to honour mum's wishes without the need for taking things further.
I assume there were funeral expenses taken from the Joint Account is it possible that most of mum's money was used on that along with any remaining bills etc.? Is what you were expecting worth a lot of heartache if you have to fight for it and will it make you unwell trying to get it if its just a small amount anyway. Of course you must be the judge of whether its worth a fight to get what mum wanted you to have.

When my mum died in 2016 she left no Will she never did have much but was content. Mum's little insurance policy cost her more over the years than it paid out in fact it didn't even pay out enough for her funeral.
My mum had said she wanted me to have dads car when he stopped driving it was much, much younger than my old thing she said in front of dad she had paid for the car too insisted that I should have it. Dad became obsessed with money before he stopped driving due to his dementia and mum had died a few months earlier so I just took him to the garage and the car was sold and the money went into his account. My sister didn't drive but I would have felt guilty anyway as was still a financial gain to me had I taken car.
I didn't have the heart to remind dad what mum had said feeling more comfortable to let him sell it and have the money himself.

I hope you manage to get a satisfactory resolution to your problem and so sorry for your loss what a awful way to find out so presumably your brother kept mum's funeral secret too?.
thank you so much for taking the time to read my post and reply
much appreciated sue x