u/Neither-Climate6749

TLDR; Grandma passed unexpectedly, intended for money to pass down to children and grandchildren, but didn't sort all of her affairs before dying. So officially her surviving child is the only inheritor.

Will her being on means tested benefits mean she cant divide up the money based on my grans original intentions?

Myself, nor my grans other grandchildren have ever received any benefits

Based in England

So my grandmother died unexpectedly overseas in Jamaica (where she lived), and left two houses.

According to her will, the proceeds from the sale from the houses were meant to be passed down to her grandchildren (with amounts specified) and the rest devided equally between her son (my uncle) and daughter (my mother).

My uncle passed away before my grandmother.

According to the lawyers in Jamaica, my mum is the sole proprietor of the properties.

My mum is on means tested benefits, Universal Credit, Council Tax reduction and housing benefit.

My mum is also a fulll time carer also manages my sisters finances as she has a learning disability and is on non means tested benefits (PIPand disability allowance).

I am not on ang benefits personally.

Im assuming it would be considered deprivation of capital if my mum devides and of the house sale proceeds according to my grandmother's will? As the proceeds will defintely take her over 16k.

We dont have a copy of the official will, we have a copy of it from 2005 before my uncle died. We also know my grandmother's intentions because that's what she told us, but as far as I know it wasn't documented anywhere.

Im trying to avoid any family disagreements over money.

Also should I accept now that Im not entitled to inheritance based on the UK system? I dont want to inherit if it ends up impacting my mother long term.

It's a bit stressful for me trying to figure out two legal systems, and manage things for my family across borders, so pls be nice to me lol.

Over the past couple of years I have really missed the academic challenge and discussion I had at university. Ive had a couple of interesting jobs in policy in the UK government but my outlook feels like its become very insular.

I also regret never doing a year abroad for university, I just did my undergraduate and postgraduate in the UK. Now 5 years after graduating from my postgrad, Im considering whats next. I'd love to spend some time getting into a new subject or learning new things.

Im from the UK, and the Brexit referendum was around the time of my high school politics exam, and was one of the first things I was old enough to vote in, and it was so interesting listening to the political and social discourse.

I have found some university courses in Belgium, Germany and Portugal and Austria that interest me, where I can learn more about the world outside of the UK, and also study how the UK interacts with the EU post Brexit.

Is it worth me getting a third degree at 29 years old? Or does it seem pointless?

I was approached this morning in at London Blackfrairs Station by a homeless man. He smiled at me, and he thanked me for smiling back at him. After starting conversation with me and asking me what I did for work (I was not intending to engage in conversation).

He said he used to work, fell off a scaffolding, now he and his wife are homeless and need 17 pounds for a hostel, they dont drink or do drugs. He then went on tontalk about how all homelessnpeople are stereotyped.

When I asked if he had approached charities he said they won't support because he is under 35. I said I didnt have cash, and he asked me if i would've given if he had card, I said yes. Then he said, do you swear you would? Then he presented a bank card. I was taken aback and still decided not to give, to which his response was 'people are very judgmental, 'you said you would help'.

We happened to be getting on the same train, and as I was walking past said to me 'why are you being so skeptical'. Then we were awkwardly on the same train til he got off a stop earlier.

Im not sure how I feel about this situation. Has something like this ever happened to you?

There is a bigger ethical question that im yet to answer at well about giving to the homeless.

I've become a historian

After my gran passed away 18 months ago, I finally built up the courage to start sorting out her affairs with her homes in Jamaica. Im based in UK and can't travel there at the moment due to caring responsibilities, so I've tried to do as much as I can from UK.

For context, my nan spent over 25 years building a house in Jamaica in St Ann parish. I only managed to visit once when I was a child.

I managed to use eLand Jamaica to find the land title and Tax Office Jamaica to check the taxes.

I've found out quite a lot from this. The land my gran built her house on, it a big plot of family land, but my grans name isn't actually on the title. The name on the title is apparently a descendent family from my maternal great grans brothers side, who went through probate, according to the title. I can see the taxes have been paid annually, but not sure by who. Based on the title it is a large piece of land, with what looks like different plots. My gran is the only one who built on the land.

Before my gran passed away, she said she wanted to get the title for her house on the land, but never managed to before she passed.

I've spent a lot of time getting information from family members and from the internet (its been like solving a fun puzzle).

I know we (my mum and I) cant do anything without the title, and quite frankly we dont know what to do yet. My gran spent years building it up, so we dont just want it to fall into disrepair, but also we dont visit jamaica enough to push money into a jamaican house.

Does anyone know if we can get the title in my gran's name? Or my mums name (as her next of kin).

I'm nervous about the costs and process of peridontal treatment. The cost is £660, and I'm getting it all done in one go: local anesthetic, deep clean under the gum.

I signed up to a new dentist and after they gave the X-Ray, they said their were early signs of gum recession.

I've had recurrent bleeding gums for about 6 years, and have been going to the dentist for checkups and hygiene appointments twice per year. Previous dentists have said its not gum disease yet, but that my gums inflame really easily, and could be linked to other health conditions, and meds I used and lifestyle factors (I mouth breathe, and use steroids for my eczema for example) and I need to keep flossing and using the interdental brushes which I do. Seeing the hygienist fixes the the problem for about a few weeks.

In reality I know £660 isn't that much in the grand scheme of things, and it's better for me to deal with this now, than let it get worse down the line.

But in reality, I'm bricking it! And I'm so nervous.