Written out of my father's will - so sad!

pookienoodle · 11 October 2009 at 7:06PM

Be aware OP that you may be starting a very long and expensive legal battle.
I am presently persuing a contentious probate case involving my father and his cleaner and it is taking years and costing 1000s.
I am lucky that my costs are being covered by my household insurance legal cover(have you checked if you have this?)
Have you spoke to your siblings and asked if they are willing to vary the terms of the will? i.e they can include you if they all agree.
this is worth doing as it will save the estate 1000s.
If you do choose to persue it make sure your solicitor is a specialist in contentious probate...you can waste a lot of time and money with one that isn't.
feel free to P.M me if you want any more advice.
Have you lodged a caveat? you can do this yourself and save the expense of your solicitor doing this.

tandraig · 11 October 2009 at 7:12PM

pookienoodle is right - you can do certain things yourself you know! did you have a look at the site i suggested? believe its on direct.gov and concerns wills etc. also, i believe the probate office has a site and that they are helpful to the public. while its certainly within your rights to use a solicitor and indeed there may be complications with the will we know nothing about, you may be right to use one..........they are expensive! just a suggestion hun. good luck anyway.

bryanb · 11 October 2009 at 7:22PM

far2812 wrote: »

Hi I would never have agreed to write one of us out of the will but they obviously thought the money was more important.

x

Why do you think you have a right to influence your fathers will in this way? The decision to exclude someone was his alone.

far2812 · 12 October 2009 at 3:41PM

I generally ignore posts by people like bryanb - as the reason for my post was for helpful suggestions!

Thanks Tandraig and Pookienoodle - I have managed to get a copy of the will through the Probate office! As you say there are certain things I can do myself.

I did write to my siblings (and so did my Auntie) but they havent responded to either of us!

mwahaha · 12 October 2009 at 5:21PM

What was the deal with the later will that your Dad had drawn up but 'wasn't lodged with the court'? That your Dad hadn't signed it yet? There's no need to lodge a new will with anyone.

bryanb wrote: »

Why do you think you have a right to influence your fathers will in this way?

The reasons are set out clearly in OP: The father was in the final process of writing a new will, OP feels that the will that excluded him was made under duress, he had no memory of writing this will, and was suffering from dementia.

bryanb · 12 October 2009 at 5:47PM

far2812 wrote: »

I generally ignore posts by people like bryanb - as the reason for my post was for helpful suggestions!

I was merely pointing out that you seemed to be saying what you would not agree to in your father's will. I still feel that you should have no influence in the matter. In fact neither should your siblings.
Ignore me if you will.
The only helpful suggestion I can offer is - If you think your father was not of sound mind when his will was written, then challenge it on that basis. But remember if he was of sound mind he had the right to will his assets as he decided, writing someone out is not a matter for the family to decide on.

tandraig · 12 October 2009 at 8:22PM

brynanb - I understand where you are coming from - but if you read the original post carefully you will see that OPs dad made a will before her mother died which was much fairer to the family (I am assuming the OPs dad became alcoholic after mums death and the dementia started then). since then he has made two subsequent wills - one he didnt remember doing!
on a later post i suggested to OP that the wills be contested as Ops dad wasnt in right mind.....and that probate office may well decide to revert to original will as Presumably it was made when he was in his right mind.
I think the OP would probably be happy with that as they seem to think that the second will was made under undue influence.
Do I have that right OP?

bryanb · 13 October 2009 at 9:23AM

tandraig wrote: »

brynanb - I understand where you are coming from - but if you read the original post carefully you will see that OPs dad made a will before her mother died which was much fairer to the family (I am assuming the OPs dad became alcoholic after mums death and the dementia started then). since then he has made two subsequent wills - one he didnt remember doing!
on a later post i suggested to OP that the wills be contested as Ops dad wasnt in right mind.....and that probate office may well decide to revert to original will as Presumably it was made when he was in his right mind.
I think the OP would probably be happy with that as they seem to think that the second will was made under undue influence.
Do I have that right OP?

Sure, I follow that. But the fact remains that there is no requirement for wills to be fair. However if a will is written under pressure then it is obviously invalid if it can be proven. Likewise invalid if not of sound mind. If the OP can show either to be the case that would be great. But the father did have the right to exclude people or not assuming that neither of these can be shown to be the case.

neneromanova · 13 October 2009 at 9:35AM

if the OP's father wrote, signed and got the new will witnessed, then why will you be contesting for mental health reasons?

Surely the old will is null and void as there is a new will so just say that instead of the mental health....

bryanb · 13 October 2009 at 9:52AM

neneromanova wrote: »

if the OP's father wrote, signed and got the new will witnessed,

As I understand it- He didn't

Written out of my father's will - so sad!

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