View Full Version : Another will question...

Harrys mum
13-06-08, 10:58
Thought I'd start another thread instead of hijacking other people's.

When money or goods were left to a child on attaining the age of twenty-one, would the child/now adult get the inheritence automatically?

Would there be any records of that being paid?

When the money is given to a daughter, and her heirs or issue would it include illegitimate children of that daughter?
I've noticed in my wills the father has stipulated that
"trustees shall divide equally amongst her (meaning his daughter) issue whether legitimate or illegitimate share and share alike"

The fathers also usually stated the money was for the daughters personal use, not for their husband's.

I'm talking 1700/1800s.

13-06-08, 11:12
I ordered a "Bank of England will extract" from British Origins for one of my ancestors, and it has an entry showing that his grandson had to prove he was 21 by showing his baptism certificate, to claim his inheritance which was in "Stock in the Navy five pounds per centum Bank annuities transferable at the Bank of England", but if the money or property left to someone was not in stocks or similar, and the executors were members of the family who knew them then I'm sure they wouldn't need to prove their age.

Olde Crone Holden
13-06-08, 11:17

It is the duty of the Executors of a will to ensure that all bequests are paid at the right time, to the right people. There is no formal record of this, other than the final filing of the estate papers.

Illegitimate children have no inheritance rights at all in English law (and never have had) unless they are specifically mentioned by name in a will. I am not sure if "any illegitimate children" covers this legally, although the court may say that it does, where a female is concerned.


Harrys mum
13-06-08, 11:30
I thought maybe the illegiinate children had no rights after I'd seen it mentioned so often in the wills.

Olde Crone Holden
13-06-08, 11:41

Wills mentioning illegitimate children were often contested by other (legitimate) relatives.

However, "the illegitimate children of my daughter" would be harder for the courts to overturn than "my illegitimate son by Fanny Bloggs". Maternity was a lot easier to prove than paternity, back then.

There is another general point here. I was left some money by a great aunt, which was to come to me when I was 21. I was not told that I had inherited it and my parents decided I didn't need to know until I was 24.

What I am trying to say here - the execution of a will is only as good and honest as the executors. If you don't already KNOW that you have an inheritance, how would you ever find out, unless the executors told you.


Harrys mum
13-06-08, 11:45
I've got to find a book about wills.............

There was one in the library from memory...think I'll have a look.