Is contesting a will something that can be done?

shell-collector · 23 January 2008 at 12:55PM

Deleted post.

a11waysindebt · 23 January 2008 at 1:07PM

I'm sorry th hear your father has passed away.

Were you not left anything in his will.

dzug · 23 January 2008 at 1:16PM

There seems to be a contradiction in what you are saying:

when your father died everything went to his wife
when your father was alive a will was written to include all children

If by this you mean that everything went to his second wife as a life interest, to be passed on to all children on her death, then this wife cannot pass the property in her will - it's not hers to give. It should be distributed as per the original will and not mentioned in hers.

If you are referring to another will, written before his second marriage - then yes that will is null and void, rendered so by the remarriage. The second wife can do what she likes with what is now her own property.

As to contesting, that's always possible. The usual effect is to fritter away the estate in legal costs so no-one wins. In this case you don't (in England and Wales anyway) have any valid grounds to contest* - you are not financially dependent on the second wife, presumably.

*unless the property she is trying to give isn't actually hers - ie the life interest aspect

shell-collector · 23 January 2008 at 1:37PM

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valspooky · 31 July 2008 at 12:40AM

My uncle died 2 weeks ago and has left a will saying his estate is to be split between his stepson and one of his nephews one of my aunts has said she is going to contest it as he has 5 nephews and niece's (who are all adults not children) and that it isnt fair that only the one nephew is to get any money none of us agree with her as the nephew involved did alot for him while he was alive can anyone advise as to weather she can do this or if she has a chance to have the will over ruled. thanks.

dunstonh · 31 July 2008 at 1:17AM

It can be contested. Although there has to be good grounds.

Personally, i dont see that a nephew would be a close enough blood relative to justify it being contested unless there was some really special close relationship involved and good reasons to contest. I would expect a solicitor would advise this nephew that its not worth it due to low chance of success (as they would still have to pay the legal costs).

Contesting it is easy. Proving your case is a lot harder.

JanRoy_3 · 23 April 2010 at 12:10AM

My brother-in-law died at the beginning of the week. He had appointed an Executor/Sole Beneficiary (same person) who is outside the family. However, on seeing the Will today which was of the diy variety

1. The date is entered wrongly
2. It was let on that it was witnessed through the post and I know this to be illegal
3. My copy was stapled together and if this applied to the original I believe to be void
4. Pages are not numbered
5. Even appears that one witness signed in pencil !

I am taking this Will to be null and void if even for point No. 2 alone ! What chances do you think my husband and his remaining brother have of
contesting this and what would be the cost ?
Thanks

juliejules10 · 18 June 2010 at 7:10AM

You can definitely contest the will on the basis that it was not witnessed properly. The will has to be signed in front of two witnesses. And the witnesses must sign in front of the person making it.
It was explained to me that there are two angles that can be taken in contesting a will. First, it is to say that the will is not valid. This could be because it wasnt signed properly, as in your situation, or that the person making the will lacked capacity at the time or was put under undue influence. Basically, the argument is that the will was not made properly and so it is not valid at all.
The second (and what I have experience of) way wills get contested is that someone close to the deceased (like a spouse or child) argues that they were not adequately provided for under the will. So, in this argument, you are not saying the will is invalid, rather, you are saying it left someone out unfairly and it should effectively be rewritten by the court to make it more fair.
Remember also, where there is no will the default is the rules of intestacy. But if the effect of these would be unfair (ie because someone dependent on the deceased will not get an adequate amount) they can be challenged to. In my situation, I was not left anything by my husband, who left all his money and property, including our house we had been sharing for 20 years but was in his name) to his kids.(I was the second wife). The estate was worth about 1million. I used a law firm in Surrey where I live called Sheridan & Co or sheridanlaw (I think they use both names). Anyway, after a big battle, I got around half instead of nothing. In only mention the name of the firm because they were so effective. The best advice I can give anyone is to find a really good solicitor like I did, as it can make all the difference.By far the worst thing was that his kids dont speak to me anymore and I used to feel like they were my own. It is so depressing. But I didnt feel i had a choice, as I was left with nothing. The good thing about bringing this kind of case is that the fees were all paid out of the estate at the end, so it didnt really cost me anything. Although of course if I could have agreed with his kids at the beginnig to share the money then we all could have saved on paying lawyers...

getmore4less · 18 June 2010 at 9:00AM

A good starting place is the HM courts site

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/civil/probate/index.htm

Loads of info and the forms needed if you want to do something.

Still recomend going to a solicitors but armed with the basics will help you understand any options.

The probate help line are very helpfull with individuals.

This area of family planning is definately worth reading up on, the consiquences of unexpected death without proper planning can cause significant costs.

As well as the on-line resources the library will have a few books on wills probate and trusts.

bendix · 18 June 2010 at 10:17AM

shell-collector wrote: »

Hello

A brief outline before I come to my main question. I lost my Mother appx 20 years ago. My Father re-married, and has since passed away. His Wife had been married before, and had been widowed. When my Father passed, everything he had went to his Wife.

Myself and my sibling are wondering what would happen if she changed her will to exclude us? She has three children, and although when my Father was alive a will was written to include all children - I presume that will is now null and void. I know she has written a new will, but obviously not what the contents are.

A friend has said to me that should myself and my sibling be excluded from her will we can `contest` the will - but is this something that one can really do? Or is it the way the world is?

I'd just like to be able to get my head around this - I'm not saying she HAS cut us, but I'd like to know where we stand legally, should it come to it.

Thank you for reading.

I don't think you understand the concept of wills. Your father left his entire estate to his second wife. That means she now owns the entire estate. What she does with that is entirely up to her, and she is completely free to leave it to her children and exclude you.

Unless you can prove your father wasn't in a fit mental state or was coerced into leaving it to his wife (unlikely, seeing as how it could have gone the other way, had his wife died first), you don't have a legal leg to stand on.

There is no universal right for children to be considered in any will, written or implied. If I have kids and choose instead to pass my vast fortunes to a monkey sanctuary in Cambodia, there isn't a damn thing my kids could do about it.

margaretclare · 18 June 2010 at 10:37AM

bendix wrote: »

I don't think you understand the concept of wills. Your father left his entire estate to his second wife. That means she now owns the entire estate. What she does with that is entirely up to her, and she is completely free to leave it to her children and exclude you.

Unless you can prove your father wasn't in a fit mental state or was coerced into leaving it to his wife (unlikely, seeing as how it could have gone the other way, had his wife died first), you don't have a legal leg to stand on.

There is no universal right for children to be considered in any will, written or implied. If I have kids and choose instead to pass my vast fortunes to a monkey sanctuary in Cambodia, there isn't a damn thing my kids could do about it.

Because your father remarried, any earlier will was null and void. He made a new will on marriage, leaving everything to his wife.

You said 'when my father was alive a will was written to include all children'. With step-children/step-grandchildren it's necessary to name them. This is what we've had to do, otherwise simply saying 'my children/grandchildren' would mean biological children and not the second, or step-, family.

We're in a second marriage and have made wills leaving everything to each other but, on the second death, the residue goes to grandchildren, who have all had to be named.

My understanding is that it's very difficult to contest a valid will. It's necessary to prove that you were financially dependent on the deceased person e.g. a disabled child, a non -working spouse etc.

Is contesting a will something that can be done?

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