Question about Will

thebeast_78

Folks,

Just looking for opinions as this is currently with a solicitor.

An uncle who was very ill for some time and a neighbour was looking after him i.e. paying bills, cleaning the house etc. He had a credit union account that had some of his money in it (we can prove it was his money) but the account was in both their names. I dont know if the account was opened this way or he opened it and she just had signing authority on the account for his expenses etc.
Now the uncle died there a few months ago and this lady received the house and some land which is fine as this was mentioned in the will. The rest of the the estate was to be divided between the rest of the family.
I am wondering if she is entitled to the money in the above account. The fact that the house and land are only mentioned in the will and the rest of the estate is to be divided, would this include the money in the account even if it is in both their names??

dazza21ie

thebeast_78 wrote: »

Folks,

Just looking for opinions as this is currently with a solicitor.

An uncle who was very ill for some time and a neighbour was looking after him i.e. paying bills, cleaning the house etc. He had a credit union account that had some of his money in it (we can prove it was his money) but the account was in both their names. I dont know if the account was opened this way or he opened it and she just had signing authority on the account for his expenses etc.
Now the uncle died there a few months ago and this lady received the house and some land which is fine as this was mentioned in the will. The rest of the the estate was to be divided between the rest of the family.
I am wondering if she is entitled to the money in the above account. The fact that the house and land are only mentioned in the will and the rest of the estate is to be divided, would this include the money in the account even if it is in both their names??

Credit Union accounts usually pass by way of nomination so however your uncle nominated would get the benefit of the account. Joint accounts usually pass by way of survivorship i.e. the surviving account holder gets everything, however a presumption of a resulting trust arises in some cases. If the money was lodged into the account by the uncle only and the account was only put in joint names for convenience e.g. to enable neighbour pay bills for the uncle then i would think a resulting trust would apply and the account would form part of the estate. However it is very unusual for some one to deal with utility bills from a Credit Union account, money is usually lodged with the Credit Union and left. It may be difficult to prove a resulting trust.

thebeast_78

Thanks a mill for the reply. Very much appreciated