Mum's will contested after probate. Trust fund oveturned

Hi all,

my mum died in 2007. I believe her will was either a joint or mirror will with our stepdad.

In 2003 they changed their will to put the property into a trust fund to avoid inheritance tax, but also I suspect my mum wanted to protect my brother and I's inheritance after she'd died as there appears to have been a mistress which she must have been aware of.

Within weeks of her death our stepdad said that he was challenging the will and having the trust fund overturned because he wanted to be able to do as he wished with the house, and visited a solicitor to put it into action. Meantime probate was granted 2 months after her death and consequently Ive been able to read the will. It mentions the Trust Fund, (stepdad and solicitor as trustees) and also some bequests - all jewellery left to me, which happened, several paintings returned to their artists which didn't happen.

Stepdad became frantic when a week before a '2 year period' after her death he hadn't heard from the solicitors. He visited them and said that when they realised whatever he'd put in place hadn't been done, people flew from all parts of the building to sign whatever the document was.

Recently, he's in ill health and has remade his will. The solicitor looked into the deeds of the house and said that there was no evidence that the house had ever passed into a trust fund and belonged solely to my stepdad.

Several questions!

• if the will was contested as I think, will there be any documentation of it? also does that make the bequests in my mum's half of the will null and void? (important as there's no paintings bequest in the new will as he fell out with the original benefactor)
  
• as we children were to be beneficiaries from the trust should we have been consulted re the overturn of the trust?
  
• if it was a property trust fund WOULD it have shown up on the house deeds? even if only for a short time? is there any other explanation that would fit?

Not sure if its relevant or not, but there seems to have been a secret interim will circa 2013 which is why the new one was made. He's been a slippery person in his day so any scenario goes. He doesn't seem to have had any loyalty towards us.:(

Many thanks in anticipation. It would be great to finally solve this puzzle. Sorry it's so long!!