Any Lawyer money saving tips re Will contest_

whitewing

Try googling Action on Elder Abuse - their helpline may be able to advise you (they deal with financial abuse too by the looks of things).

ldavies_3

Im sorry to butt in, I rarely interrupt a thread when I have no advice but I have to say good luck to you. Sometimes,it is very difficult when someone dies not to be consumed by the money / inheritance thing. This is so not the case and I just wanted to say good luck.. Fight it all the way.. something very big smells here!

jane1960

Thanks Masquerade, I am currently trying to find a lawyer willing to come to an arrangement. I have just heard that My brother has recently made enquiries about going bankrupt (he has a business) but at the moment he has too many assets! so my thoughts are he may well dispose of his assets on paper and hide the money under the mattress so that if I do bring this case to court he wil not have to pay because he will claim that he has nothing!

Whilst I was over in the UK with him for the funeral he constantly told me that he was virtually bankrupt - (whilst inviting everyone for drinks in the pub, meals out, takeaways and constantly buying things) -mum didn't leave any money and that someone he did some work for owed him 140,000 gbp (I have only got a euro sign on my keyboard) and had not paid! my thoughts at the time were that he was trying to prepare me for when he later has money!

brook123lyn

so sorry to hear about your mum, Jane. Amongst all the loss to deal with a possible betrayal by someone you grew up with must be mind boggling. I have been involved in two lots of POA with dementia being a factor (just as sister and niece, not a lawyer) and both times I had official solicitors letters to sign, approve and effect the movement of responsibility to others named who would have been beneficiaries in the will.
I do hope you get to the bottom of it; try to divide your personal from your logical if you possibly can, so that you are more effective in seeking the end you want.
Can I ask what happened to your mother's personal effects? Did your brother also keep items that you thought would become heirlooms on your side of the family?
I hope soon you may get some clear and unequivocal advice on your position but know people are thinking of you - keep posting and let us know!

jane1960

I am just amazed at how kind everyone is on this thread! it is soooo difficult to separate the personal from the logical, I start out ok but then the personal just rises to the surface! but yes I am trying very hard to do this.

My brother has many of the family heirlooms, he allowed me to take a few peices of jewellry but there was no sign of her wedding and engagement rings from her second husband. She very much wanted my neice to have some of her silver wedding crystal and as my brother said I could take them I took them and gave them to my niece. However there are still several items unaccounted for.

Errata

Given that your brother may be going bankrupt, and all money etc bequeathed by your mum may become non-existent, it seems to me the only thing you could realistically gain from pursueing this would be the sentencing of your brother for fraud which could result in him being jailed.
If you believe fraud has been committed, then perhaps your quickest course of action will be to report this to the police; they can investigate and uncover evidence to support your belief if it exists.
I'm not sure how you would go about this, as you live in the Canary Islands and your brother lives in the UK.
If you believe that the solicitor has fraudulently acted in your mum's divorce and has also drawn up her will with the intention to defraud you, have you communicated your suspicions to the senior partner of the law firm?
You have written that you are frightened of your brother, but as you live in different countries many hundreds of miles apart, how realistic is your fear of what he could do to you?

jane1960

Hello Errata,

My thoughts on the subject are that he "borrowed" a lot of my mothers money because the opportunity was just too tempting as he had the power of attorney and could do exactly as he liked. Later he probably realised that as joint beneficiary and executor he was going to have to answer questions on where her money had gone and therefore decided that the easy way out of that one was to get her to make a new will leaving almost everything to him and a small gesture to me; with himself as the only executor. That way he would not have to answer to anyone, besides I think he convinced himself that he had a right to her money because she was living in his house (which she had paid the deposit on only 10 years earlier) albeit because he took the decision to take her out of her own house.

He often used the argument to me that no-one cared about her, no-one went to see her etc., no doubt he used this on mum too. When she lived with her husband she had a lot of friends and relatives in the area, my brother moved her to a different area where she knew no-one. If anyone tried to phone - myself included - no-one would ever answer even though it is a business! so inevitably I would have to call my brother on his mobile and still not be able to speak to my mother.

According to a good source his accountants have told him that he cannot go bankrupt again (he was already bankrupt in 1995 just after my mother gave him about 30,000 gbp to try and halt it) because he has many assets including a house, lots of antique vehicles, 3 plots of land and building equipment eg diggers etc.,

I am reluctant to go to the police, my husband also says that is what I should do, I do believe that he coerced my mother into divorce and changing her will, I also believe that he abused his power of attorney and stole my mums money and assets between 2005 and 2008.

I spoke to the solicitors who changed the will and dealt with the divorce - I asked them if they were aware of my mothers condition at that time and they immediately told me that they could not speak to me further as there was a conflict of interests. As far as this solicitor is concerned I would think that he did this in good faith as my brother is a client of his.

My brother has a filthy temper and is a devil when he drinks that is why I am afraid of him, he is capable of anything when drunk and has in fact spent nights in police cells for thumping people, fighting with lovers, sectioned in the phsyciatric hospital.... more details I do not know. That is a good part of the reason why 20 years ago I moved 2000 miles away! I have experience of his verbal abuse accross the miles when I haven't agreed with his actions, eg when he took mum away from home. When I was there in his home last month he was also mentioning very shady characters, so yes as I have a vivid imagination and saw and heard things that I would rather not have - I am scared of him. He even told me whilst I was with him that he was a devil when angered and that
he would go after anyone who upset him.......So I have just tried not to get him upset.

whitewing

Having read your latest post, I think you either need to drop this now (which I don't think you should) or contact the police. For your own safety (and your husband's etc), I do not think you should proceed with anything at all without contacting the police. Even posting further on this website (sorry).

Grumpysally

I'm just posting to wish you luck. My partner and I are at the moment desperately trying to avoid something similar happening to his mum, so I appreciate what you are going through and how frustrating it is trying to get answers from people.
I don't know if its of any help to you but this is the link for the office of the public guardian, you can get information about the mental capacity act from here. I expect that any solicitor you speak to will start quoting it to you so it helps to be prepared.
Good luck, you dont need all this when you've just lost your mum.
http://www.publicguardian.gov.uk/mca/mca.htm