Hi Ethel, Thanks for replying. Granddad died in Oxfordshire, so England it is. I'll have a look at those sites over the Christmas holidays when I have a bit more time. Obviously if they were married and there was no will, she's first in line anyway. I think checking to see if there was a will registered is an important step. Who knows, the visit to the solicitors office might have been to leave everything to her anyway - married or not. Unfortunately I've no idea which solicitor it might have been, but I believe they usually register wills. Hopefully if there is one it can be found. "Auntie" (as we knew her) wasn't young when granddad died, so as I say, all the affairs were taken care of by her son. I guess he would be about 70 now if he's still alive. If there was fraud involved, a pound to a penny it was his hand in it. I'll try to get the background first - married? will? then work on the next steps from there if they are relevant.

Hi HB, Thank you for your help. Once the pre-Christmas rush is out of the way and I get some time off work I'll sign up for Ancestry.co.uk and do some digging. Granddad died in 1992. If I can't find anything I might just tell mum I found a record of a will leaving everything to his "wife". Sometimes a lie is the kindest thing. Better than her getting wound up about it after all these years. She's often commented that she didn't trust her stepbrother and thought he'd "stolen" the house and money, but it's getting more intense now and it's starting to play on her mind. Not healthy - which is why I promised her I'd play sleuth.

Hi HB I've had a good scan through now and back-tracked through various record searches. I've found that the one with the same name is somebody else (born 3 years earlier than granddad). I've now checked for 10 years after granddad's death (way after his "wife" passed too) and there are no records of probate being issued to anyone. His house was in a nice little Oxfordshire village (Zoopla current estimate 350k-400k) so I think probate would have been necessary, even if, as they allege, there was no will. Mum says he had shares and his family were fairly well heeled too so she suspects there would have been a few bob in a savings account. Since he was leaving the house to mum and the money to her sister she suspects they would have been similar in value since he was always very fair. Mum has always suspected that this was done underhandedly and I'm beginning to think she has some merit. What would be her next step? Is there an authority that investigates things like this? Thank you x

Thanks honeybee. What if there was no will as they claim? Would they still have to apply to handle the estate - sorry if these seem like daft questions but I've never had to deal with this sort of thing before. I've checked that link and there is the right name and year (not sure of the exact date), but the wrong address. Might it be under a different address for any reason?

This is quite historic but is eating at my mum now. I guess since she's 90 she's starting to think about what happens to her estate after she dies and it's brought this back to mind for her - she's convinced her dad will be spinning in his grave! Anyway - to the point... My granddad and grandma divorced many years ago. Granddad had 2 "significant others" in his life afterwards, but I'm not sure if they were ever actually married. Mum says that they must have been because granddad was very "proper", although she can't remember a wedding, so I say it's open for debate - I shall refer to them as "wife" anyway. His last "wife" had a son from a previous marriage - a pompous stockbroker that my granddad hated. Granddad had suffered a couple of strokes and my mum and her sister were a big help in caring for him and getting him back on his feet (or mobility scooter!). He told them that under no circumstances did he want her son to inherit anything and said that he was going to leave the house to mum and his money to her sister. He lived in his own home which he had bought long before "wife" number three was a part of his life and he was always well off for money, mum was forever telling him off for leaving bundles of cash in his bureau. A while later granddad passed away and his "wife's" son suddenly appeared on the scene to "sort everything out" for her. Mum has always been very timid and would never question any authority figure and he certainly came across as authoritative! Granddad's "wife" said that there was no money to pay for the funeral and so my mum and her sister offered to pay, but then she said that her son had paid for it. Mum asked her if there was a will but she said that they had not been able to find one (it later came to light that a neighbour had seen him going into a solicitor's office in the town only a few weeks previously). Not long after his death, his "wife" (or her son?) sold the house - I don't know how if the deed was in granddad's name - and she moved into a flat near to her son. Lord knows why since he still didn't visit her, it was my aunt who drove 40 miles each way to change her dressings when she was ill. Within a couple of years she passed away too and there was never any mention of a will or anything, so I guess that was all handled by her son again. I've no idea if they ever applied for probate for granddad's estate and wouldn't know what to do about it even if they hadn't, but have promised mum I'll try to find out. It's just playing on her mind that the pompous stockbroker is living a life of luxury on granddad's money that he was determined not to let him have and that granddad has been cheated of his wish. Thanks for reading - any advice appreciated!