Probate question

There is a question on the forms asking about Aunts and Uncles of the deceased. In my case I have no idea whether or not there are/were any. Other elderly relatives are not sure either . What are the implications if I get this wrong ? I find the questions re all relatives pointless as there is a clear will in place. I can understand the need here if someone dies intestate..... Whilst doing this task, it occured to me what about Royals when they die ? The 'gifts' questions in IHT must be a mamoth task to complete, or are they exempt ?

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Reply to
TTman
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You can only answer to the best of your knowledge. Provided you give your answers in good faith I can't see any offence being committed. You can tell them on the form, whether there's a box for it or not, that you have inquired of the family to the fullest extent possible and there is no evidence of any surviving aunts or uncles. The fact that there is a valid Will makes it highly unlikely they will require any further investigations of the matter.

Royal families tend to use family trusts to protect their wealth over many generations; a Trust Deed under a Lichtenstein Anstalt is one of their oft-used such vehicles for tax mitigation and whatnot.

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Reply to
Cursitor Doom

Thx, as I thought. Sadly, I posted in the wrong group.. old age syndrome

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Reply to
TTman

In the US at least the amount anyone gives-a-shit tends to scale with the size of the estate in question. My father passed away recently and died intestate, it seems his will did not meet the Massachusetts state requirements for witnessing.

Not that big a deal, it was a "small estate" (under 25k assets, there are a lot of positives to living to nearly a hundred but you sometimes tend to run out of money) so the process of becoming executor as a next-of-kin is streamlined you just wait 30 days and be the first next-of-kin to turn up at the probate court with the proper ID, fill out a two page form where you list the assets you know about, sign a sworn affidavit that to the best of your knowledge no other known-to-you next-of-kin that you list would legally contest this, and pay a small fee.

It then gets stamped, notarized, and signed off on by a state judge/magistrate same day while you wait.

People with those kind of financials have a lawyer or whole legal team to figure all that stuff out. Especially if someone with a large estate dies intestate the legal wrangling over that stuff can take many years to play out.

Reply to
bitrex

  • ...and the majority of it going to the lawyers.

Reply to
Robert Baer

Well in the case of someone who's intestate the other option is it goes to the government! Good heavens!

Reply to
bitrex

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