Contest to a will

Quick question for all you legal eagles out there. I have recently become a
beneficiary of a will from my gran-aunt. One of the bank accounts she had, was a joint account, created by her brother (my grandfather) who died over 8 yrs ago. My aunt is contesting this account. She states that as it was only ever mantained by my grandfather and never touched by my gran-aunt, the money from this account should go to the beneficiary of his will i.e My Aunt. Has anbody ever seen anything like this or heard of a similar case. I'm a bit worried, as without this cash, I'm left with a very large tax bill.

Could go either way.

If it was Aunts why did she not claim it before? What was the reason for putting the account in joint names? If it was because Gran might have needed money, does that not steal her thunder? It must be a lot of money so suggest specialist legal advice.

mf

Does this reply in another thread not apply even though there is a will and a spouse is not involved?
I hope cut and pasteing MOB's reply is OK!

-11-2006, 08:14 PM
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Re: Husband dies intestate
The assets in joint names pass by survivorship, and do not actually form part of the estate. If there are any assets in sole name of deceased, then the rules for distribution on intestacy do come into play.

"Does this reply in another thread not apply even though there is a will and a spouse is not involved? "

There is a strong (virtually impossible to challenge) assumption that money in joint names with a spouse is intended to go to survivor. While the survivor in any other joint account is also in a very strong position, it would not be nearly as ironclad, so I would agree with MF1's response. There was case law on this very topic

[Mary Lynch v Burke and Allied Irish Bank plc (1996 1 ILRM). if anybody wants to read it]

While the effect of that case was to strengthen the position of a (non-spouse) joint account survivor, I would not be able to remember the exact details. Specific legal advice should be taken.

A lot will depend on the intention of your grandfather when he opened the account and paid the monies into it. This could go either way - it might be easier to negotiate a settlement.

Any taxes due would normally be paid from the estate before the estate is distributed, so I don't understand your last sentence. Inheritence taxes are due from the recipients not from the estate.

If you are an executor, then don't distribute until you have the tax sorted out as you would then be liable for the taxes and getting the monies back from the recipients once the estate is distributed would be fraught with problems.

Just a quick update. My aunt went ahead with a high court action but was laughed out of court. Judge, couldn't believe after 8.5 yrs she would try and lay claim to the monies in the joint account. He agreed that the monies had been provided by my grandfather solely but for the benefit of my granaunt, and she was within her rights to dispose of said monies as she saw fit. So, I would just like to thank you all for your help & especially for that case law study. It came in very handy.

That's one hell of a quick turnaround from inheritance to court.

Vanilla, This as been going on for over 2 years. Only discovered this site thru a friend & just before the case went to court.