Hi
My mum and step father had “mirror” trust wills (from 1999) that specified their portion of the estate went to each other for life benefit, then their portion of the estate passed to their respective children (40% to me and 60% to his two children) once they had both passed.
Up until 3 years ago their property was held as tenants in common and there was no joint bank account, each had their own.
When they moved the new property ended up as joint tenants and the profit from the sale of their old property was put into a joint account. Their wills were not updated and they still maintained their own individual bank accounts.
Sadly mum passed a few months ago and I understand that the house and main bank account pass solely to him as they were jointly held even though this was not what Mum intended as she still went with the intent of their wills. At 80 she did not understand legalities and there was a certain level of trust and expectation on her part as to how my step father would handle things.
However, he has also moved the money from her personal account to his personal account claiming it is also part of his inheritance as her spouse/next of kin.
So basically do I have any claim on what was in mum’s personal account as I believe her personal account still forms part of her will trust ?
Thanks in advance
Hi Jay and thank you for your enquiry. Firstly please accept our condolences following the passing of your mother. We can not advise you in the context of this online forum, but hopefully the following generic observations may help? You clearly have a good grasp on joint tenancy v tenancy in common, and the implications this has on the ability of a share of property passing into a trust. By virtue of a principle known as the ‘right of survivorship’, property held as joint tenants passes automatically on death overriding wills. The same principle applies to joint bank accounts.
Also, was in fact the will trusts you refer to still valid at the point at which your mother passed? Had they renewed their wills, perhaps other provisions were made? And/or, if they had simply cancelled the wills (and not made new wills) then the rules of intestacy would apply making a surviving spouse the main beneficiary.
There are limited grounds for challenging a will (or more broadly the testamentary position of someone when they die). Have a look at this article which you may find helpful which looks at the broad reasons for challenging a will.
If you feel that things have not been dealt with correctly with your mother’s estate then you should take legal advice sooner than later. We can help with that. As above, the scope of this forum is simply to provide/discuss generic legal matters, NOT provide specific advice. Nevertheless, we very much hope this is of some help.
(NB – our articles and any comments thereon do not represent legal advice and should not be taken as such. If you require legal advice about your particular case, please make contact with us).
