Greg passed away in 2015 with a will but without any assets and in these circumstances a Grant of Probate was not taken out by his relatives.

Five years after Greg’s death, and to his family’s great surprise, the funeral directors, who had dealt with Greg’s funeral, received a phone call from an insurance company. The insurance company informed the funeral director that Greg has taken out a pension policy many years previously and wanted to know who the policy should be paid to.

The funeral directors contacted Greg’s brother John his closest living relative.

It was necessary to take out a Grant of Probate to access these funds.

Greg had appointed his two brothers as his executors. One of Greg’s brothers had passed away a few years prior to Greg’s death. His surviving brother took out the Grant of Probate alone.

The Grant of Probate issued and John was named as executor. Unfortunately, John had previously had problems with this heart and died suddenly of a heart attack just as the pension funds were obtained from the insurance company.

This left a problem for the beneficiaries as the estate could not be distributed. A second Grant of Probate needed to be taken out, know as a de bonis non grant, by the surviving beneficiaries.

Finally, the funds from the life insurance policy were split between his two surviving relatives who both acted as his Legal Personal Representatives.

This case not only highlights the possibility of surprise inheritance but also some of the difficulties that can arise in distributing an estate.

This case shows there can be a lot of twists and turns in administering a grant of probate.

If this story affected you or you have a similar concern please contact us.

Please note for privacy and GDPR reasons names and circumstances have been changed to protect the identity of the individuals involved.