Noreen, having spent some considerable time helping sort out a friends' affairs after the death of her husband, when her mother in law evicted her and sold the house quite legally, I have the info from the horses mouth. When my father died, the solicitors first question was 'are either of his parents still living because they are next of kin?'. When we explained that his mother was dead and he had no legitimate father, he explained everything else.

As for the child thing - my Godchildren were both born without the benefit of a marriage license (since rectified) and I was with them on both occasions of their registration and got the same explainations from the Registrar.

When we had been married a few years, we decided to make wills, and the same was explained to us. If Manitas had died before making his will, the flat, being in his name only, would have reverted to his parents and they could have disposed of it as they saw fit. I would have got his pension, but only because he'd submitted my name to his employer. Had he not done that, it would have gone to his mother, as I had my own income.

It does take a particularly mean sort of person to do that sort of thing, but as I think we all know, there are some very nasty people around masquerading as friends and family.

LTS