Advice Re Nuisance Callers

[hannajayne]

My mother in law passed away in November and the terms of the will clearly state I am the beneficiary under her wll.
I have also been caring for her since 1999.
When my mother in law was alive she told me she had no living blood relatives except my children as my husband passed away and I certainly have not been introduced to any.
So far I have had 9 different callers saying they are blood relatives of my mother in law and they are stating they are entitled to her estate as they are blood relatives and have demanded their share of the estate. Some have called 4 times.
One has even demanded the bungalow even though half of it has been in my name since my father in law passed away.
I have just told them to put their claims in writing but non of them have.
As I do not have any address for any of these callers is there any form of legal notice I can put on the porch window which will make it an offence for them to knock at the door again.
I think it is unlikely they have any legal claim to the estate but they are obviously being just a plain nuisance.

Hanna

[bednobs]

i find this absolutely extraordinary (although perhaps i shouldn't - someone posted a few weeks ago about the very same thing)
People are so f'ing shameless.

[albaqwerty]

I remember that Bed.

Your MIL made a Will, you are the beneficiary. End of.

Would a notice saying 'No Trespassing or Loitering' assist?

[bednobs]

or taking the batteries out of your bell?

[SeaJayPea]

Ye Gods. Is there no shame in some people? Telephone calls, or visitors?

Are you the executor of the will? If not, speak to whoever is dealing with it, they'll be able to put you right and could field phone calls for you. If you are, it may be worth getting a solicitor to deal with them. There may even be a criminal offence going on that would interest the police.

Good luck with it.

[AMYSULLIVAN]

I remember a similar situation on this site a few weeks ago.
Looking from a practical point of view even if a notice was put in the window I am not sure if the courts would regard ringing a door bell as being an offence.
People could always say they did not see the notice.
To have any chance of legal claim on the estate these callers would have to prove they were financially dependant on your mother in law in some way and clearly they were not.
Just being a relatine does not give you the right to inherit a deceased estate.
It is a pity you have no address for these callers as I think there are legal notices which can be served on them banning them from your road.
I think if you just shut the door in their face a few times they will get the message and will not return realising they are just wasting their time and petrol coming around.
Another thought. If they are coming by car you could note down the numbers and hand them over to the police.
I am just wandering if these callers would be guilty of harasement.

Amy

[tamborine]

Tell callers to contact their own solicitors as the Will has gone to probate, and SLAM THE DOOR !

[abstibus]

Ask them to leave their details with you and then pass these on to the police.

[dickythecook]

I thought all parties with an interest in the estate of the deceased had to register that interest with the court of probate. There are (I think) penalties for malicious timewasters. CAB could probably give good free advice on this matter. Good luck.

[HowardKennitby]

If you want to be absolutely certain you could look up your MIL's birth data to see if she had any siblings. Having said that these people are probably just chancing it.

[boxtops]

It's a bit late anyway, for these people to come out of the woodwork, they don't appear to have cared about your mother while she was alive! As if you would take their word for it - I can't believe the gall of some people. Do they say what relation they are to your mother? Whatever you do, don't let them in.

[boxtops]

^ and if they come back any more, tell them that you've already reported them to the Police for harassment (it might be an idea just to mention it to your local police anyway, since complete strangers are knocking on your door asking for money?)

[ubasses]

Hopefully these are relatives who have heard that your Mother in Law has passed away and unaware of a Will are trying to make sure that they do not miss out. Once you tell them that she left a Will and after probate it will be distributed in accordance with her wishes (to you) they will realised they are not included and leave you alone.

[MartinBev58]

Hi Bednobs

I think you were refering to my thread in Dember.

Hanna

I had a similar problem when my father passed away in December. I had cared for my father to some extent but things got nothing like to the stage of dementia etc which I know can be bad for the children.
In my case however it was not relatives causing the problem it was basically so called friends and members of the club he attended.
Comments were made like I had been scrounging off my father and other people were more deserving of the estate and when I added up the value of the demands they came to about double the size of my fathers estate.
Yes I do accept I now got my parents house which I do not intend to sell as it is now my home.
I do not accept I was scrounging off my father.
I paid fully to run the car, had alterations done to the house to suit my father and myself and paid for new kitchen, porch and bathroom to be installed.
I also paid for his private health insurance which cost £5,000 per year due to his age. He never used it as every time he went ill it was always late at night always Friday, I took him to A & E and he was taken to a ward straight away and was out by Monday morning.
I was getting phone calls and callers for about 3 weeks but I think they realised the will was in my favour and they had no case.
I was a member of the club my father went to and my membership expired on the 31 December and I have not renewed my membership.
We had purchased new years eve party tickets but I decided not to go as many of the people who wanted my fathers estate were going to be there.
As it happened I did meet a nurse at the hospital my father passed away in who is also widowed and she was working new years eve. She works on a different ward. We had met before at the leisure centre and we spoke when we were walking to the car park.
We have now been dating each other for nearly a month so I think some good may have come out of a bad situation.

Martin

[tonywiltshire]

It may be very difficult to differentiate between genuine callers and those of evil intent. You could put up a notice to the effect that anyone calling about the will of (name) should contact you first in writing or if you are using a solicitor ask them to direct their enquiries to them. I think you would find it difficult to prove harassment.

The fact that people claim to be relatives is irrelevant they must be named as beneficiaries or believe they have a claim under succession. If they believe they have a claim to be beneficiaries of the will then they should challenge the will, people who will not even identify themselves are hardly likely to do so.

A death can bring out the worst in some people, as you are discovering.

[MartinBev58]

Hanna

I have just noticed you have children and as your mother in law said they were blood relatives even if there is anything wrong with the will they will inherit the estate before any other relatives.
I presume they are all over 18 now but if they are not I think the assetts would have to be put into trust.

Oddly enough I overheard a conversation this afternoon between 2 ladies and one said that she wanted to go and live with a widowed man but the daughter was living at the house and the mothers share of the house had been left to the daughter.

I did not intervene but the other lady did state that if she got married to the father the daughter would be legally obliged to return her share of the house to the father and get out of the house.

I hope the daughter knows her rights as this is not the case.

Martin

[Barmaid]

Hanna

I'm sorry, I've only just seen this.

Ignore the callers. Are you an executor as well as a beneficiary? Even so, what the executor needs to do is publish notices in 1 local newspaper and the London Gazette under s27 Trustee Act 1925. The "interested parties" must then file their claims within 2 months of the advertisements, or in the case of people under the Inheritance (Provision for family and Dependants) Act 1975 (this is a spouse, former spouse, cohabitee, child, person treated as a child to which the deceased was a party and dependent) 6 months from the grant of probate.

These calls sound like a "try on". Ignore.