Estate Distribution Horror Stories: When the Family Tree Isn’t What It Seems

When administering an estate, the family information provided at the outset can appear straightforward. The beneficiaries are known, the family tree looks complete and everything seems ready to proceed.

But what happens when the family tree is wrong?

This Halloween, we’re looking at four real cases where further research uncovered something unexpected, from incorrect relationships and unknown marriages to a potential sole beneficiary and 12 additional beneficiaries.

They demonstrate why Family Tree Verification can be an important step before estate distribution, alongside considering whether Missing Beneficiary Insurance may provide appropriate additional protection.

The wrong relationship

In one case, solicitors provided us with family information and a family tree based on details supplied by their client.

Our research established that the deceased’s mother had married twice and had several children the solicitors had not previously been aware of.

More significantly, there were errors in the relationships shown on the original family tree.

The solicitor’s client believed he was the deceased’s brother. Our research established that he was actually a half-blood nephew.

By investigating the wider family, we were able to identify full-blood relatives and provide the information required for the estate to be distributed correctly.

The risk: A family tree can look complete while containing significant errors in the relationships upon which entitlement is being determined.

The unknown marriages

Another case demonstrated just how much can be missing from the family information available to a solicitor.

Initially, the solicitors were aware of the deceased’s child. However, paperwork discovered for a personal pension and retirement investment account named another woman as a beneficiary, who was believed to have been the deceased’s wife.

Our research uncovered more of the story.

We located a marriage record confirming their relationship, before establishing that the deceased had actually married three times.

The solicitors had been unaware of both the second and third marriages.

The risk: Information provided by relatives or contained within existing paperwork may only reveal part of an individual’s family history.

The missing daughter

Sometimes verification doesn’t simply add another branch to a family tree. It can change the direction of the case completely.

We were instructed to locate missing nieces and nephews of a deceased individual.

When our researchers examined the family tree, however, they discovered that the deceased had a daughter.

The family knew about her but believed the deceased was not her biological father. However, he was named as her father on the birth certificate and had also been the informant who registered the birth.

Instead of simply tracing nieces and nephews, the research therefore needed to address the potential claim of someone who could be the sole beneficiary of the estate.

The daughter was subsequently located.

The risk: If the basis of entitlement hasn’t been fully verified, research can begin with the wrong class of beneficiaries entirely.

The missing 12

Perhaps the clearest example of why verification matters came when solicitors contacted us shortly after instruction because family members had come forward.

They believed that the details of all beneficiaries were now known and were therefore considering cancelling our instruction.

We recommended verifying the family tree.

It was a good thing they did.

Our research established that the family tree supplied by the heirs was incomplete and identified 12 additional beneficiaries.

The risk: Even where relatives are confident that they know the family structure, there may still be people or branches of the family they are unaware of.

Verify before you distribute

None of these cases began with an obviously unreliable family tree.

That’s precisely the point.

Family information can be supplied in good faith and still be incomplete or incorrect. Relationships may have been misunderstood, marriages might not be known about and entire branches of a family can be missing.

Family Tree Verification provides an opportunity to independently check the information being relied upon before an estate is distributed.

Where appropriate, Missing Beneficiary Insurance can provide an additional layer of protection against certain risks associated with missing or unknown beneficiaries. Finders can arrange suitable cover through our insurance provider, Aviva.

Together, research, verification and appropriate insurance can help legal professionals manage the risks surrounding estate distribution.

Don’t let an incomplete family tree become an estate distribution horror story.

Verify before you distribute.

Find out more about our Family Tree Verification and Missing Beneficiary Insurance services, or speak to the Finders team about a current estate. Contact us.