British Inheritance Laws

kaiello · Joined: 03 Sep 2007 Posts: 35 Location: United States

My grandmother, who left England in 1911 and eventually settled in the US:

1) stated that she had to return to England within 25 years to claim an inheritance, or it would go to the crown.

2) stated that she would have to renounce her US citizenship or she would forfeit her inheritance.

She returned to England in 1935 and also in 1937, supposedly to settle this affair. According to her, she would not renounce her US citizenship and so lost out on her inheritance.

Are these statements accurate in regards to inheritance claims when one has left England?

Regards,
Kathleen

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Kind regards,
Kathleen

Dotty · Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:09 am Post subject: Ooooeerrrr...

Well, that is a question and a half...

I know two things about inheritance matters...

1) Little and
2) Nothing

...but I don't think they are clean cut. You will probably have to have details of the will and to whom it belonged and someone could then look it up and see what it says.

I'm sure some else will be along soon to give you some better advice but good hunting!

Dotty

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Family History is moo-sic to my ears!

Bez · Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 12:57 pm Post subject:

I agree with Dotty - the terms of the Will may be quite specific, especially in regards to renouncing UK citizenship. I am quite certain that this is not the normal thing, or citizens of other countries would not be able to inherit British titles, which they do if they are the next heir.

If the Will states that it is a condition of inheritance, then that may be why she missed out.

Inheritances automatically revert to the Crown if no heir can be found.

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Middle-aged and seeking the middle-ages!

Dotty · Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 4:56 pm Post subject: Update

Hello

Just having a moment and thinking about your gran. Am I correct in thinking you are linked to her Canadian/American family? Have you any contact with her British family? It would be interesting to see if you could find some living relatives, one of them may know the 'family secrets'.

Dotty

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Family History is moo-sic to my ears!

kaiello · Joined: 03 Sep 2007 Posts: 35 Location: United States

Dotty and Bez,

Thank you for responding. What I'm trying to find out is if there even was a will, or if she just made that up because she wanted to return to England for a visit and needed a good reason to do so (this wasn't that many years after the Depression hit America).

We don't know if she ever divorced her first husband from Southport area and for some reason needed to come back and actually get a divorce, not an inheritance. She waited to marry my grandfather until after they moved to the US. We were always told the inheritance story and would have no way of knowing.

I haven't found a relative yet that knows what happened, but am hopeful!

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Kind regards,
Kathleen

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