An Unwanted Inheritance

Product Information

Imogen Clark is an author who has been on my radar for ages and I jumped at the chance to be part of the readalong plans for An Unwanted Inheritance. Legally, there are two ways to refuse an inheritance. You can either disclaim it or create a deed of variation in the Will. But to make sure your wishes are taken into account, declining inheritance must be made in writing, and done within two years of the date of death of the testator. For 4 years running, we have been awarded ‘Best UK Probate Research Firm’ since 2019 at the UK Probate Research Awards, and have won the same award at the British Wills and Probate Awards in 2020.

Blog – I’ve been writing my blog since 2008 so if you dig deep you’ll find lots of posts about how I became a writer, amongst many other topics. When their father dies unexpectedly, siblings Max, Ellie and Nathan can’t even contemplate emptying his house—not least because he spent his last decade curating what feels like a museum to his polished public image. So it is Max’s wife, Caroline, who finds the suitcase under a bed… A suitcase stuffed full of an awful lot of cash. I really enjoyed this book and love the way Imogen weaves a story around family and explores some of the complexities associated with day to day family life.The premise is an immediate attention grabber. Siblings Max, Ellie and Nathan are mourning the sudden death of their father, when Max’s wife Caroline discovers over a quarter of a million pounds in cash hidden in a suitcase at his home. It should be a happy windfall, but as doubts as to the money’s provenance come to light, the family’s loyalties are stretched to breaking point. Ellie, Nathan and Max are siblings. Ellie is married to James, a wealthy and aspiring property dealer. Their two girls go to an expensive school and they have a lifestyle to maintain. Max is married to Caroline. Caroline has known Ellie since childhood - Ellie’s family provided the happiness that had been lost in her own family. Nathan is single..his girlfriend left him when his habit got out of control. When their father dies unexpectedly Caroline finds a suitcase under the bed in the family home. It is full of money… For me, the characters were unlikeable and I found the pace inconsistent. It’s not a terrible book, not at all. I suppose I just had very different ideas on what it would be to what it actually was. Which is a shame. When Cara stumbles upon a stash of old postcards up in the attic, their contents make her question everything that she believed she knew.

Caroline is married to Max, the eldest son. She found the money. Her instincts, and that of her husband, are to keep everything above board.

Uncommon Knowledge

The four Bliss siblings have got a loving yet complex bond, however when Dorothy, their mom, dies apparently without any will, this relationship gets put to the test. While these mourning siblings attempt to make sense of this situation, one of them gets caught with a secret: before Dorothy entrusted her favorite daughter with her will and this letter. And she told her to destroy them both.

The story is filled with moral dilemmas and explores relationships between eh siblings, as well as the couples. I don't think [hoarders] want to leave their children with a mess," says Dr. Fugen Neziroglu, a psychologist with the Bio Behavioral Institute in New York. "They don't go through in their minds what's going to happen with the clutter, or what the kids are going to do with it." She suggests raising the topic as part of an intervention that's carried out with love and encouragement rather than anger and blame—and capping it off with a visit to a therapist. But as an expert in the field, Dr. Neziroglu is well aware that's easier said than done. There's no magic bullet or wonder drug for hoarding, and relatives often throw in the towel in frustration. They'd rather "wait it out" and deal with the hoard "when the time comes." Another way to deal with an unwanted inheritance is to use a deed of variation to redirect the gift. This alters the will as if the change had been made by the testator before they died. This gives executors and beneficiaries more control of redistribution meaning they can also refuse part of the estate. I loved that, in addition to giving us a twisty, compelling story, Clarke also explores some big questions — about the insidious power of money, about personal integrity and honesty — and challenges us to consider what we might do in similar circumstances. A disclaimer must apply to the whole gift, so you can’t refuse part of the estate while accepting some of it and the heir must not have received any of the gift before the person died. If you disclaim your inheritance, this means you can’t ever become the legal owner so it is a step that should be taken after due consideration. Neither can the person who disclaims the inheritance then decide who receives his or her share among the remaining beneficiaries.Imogen gets inspired to write by asking herself ‘what if?’, and if the answer is an interesting one, then she begins jotting ideas down. Sometimes the ideas just go nowhere. But sometimes they will sit in her head for months or even years at a time before she’s able to work out how they might make a book. The road to the solution was a roller coaster ride with many twists and turns and at times the problem seemed unsolvable. Imogen Clark has written a story about honesty and integrity and conflict and shows how these qualities can mean different things to different people depending on circumstances and when circumstances change so do their opinions - sometimes. It also shows the damage sudden wealth, or the prospect of it, can do to relationships. For a story about an apparently ordinary suburban family, this is every bit as exhilarating as the recent James Patterson I’ve just finished, but with better characterisation and a twist worthy of a thriller. What happens when you drop a bag of cash right in the middle of three siblings and their families? A whole lot of good fun and drama. An Unwanted Inheritance delightfully explores the flaws that come with being human as Clark plunges us into a story about what is right and wrong and what it means to be a family. She ratchets up the tension as the story races to its surprising and oh, so satisfying conclusion.” — Boo Walker, bestselling author of The Singing Trees