leaving a house in a will but to only one child.when there is two

localhero

I've also posted this on this thread: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1390789&page=2&highlight=wills

Only certain categories of people are entitled to challenge a Will, and whether they succeed or not will depend on the circumstances.

They are: Spouse, ex spouse if they are receiving maintenance, somebody living with you when you die, your children (infant or adult), and that includes stepchildren if you had treated them as a child of yours, and anybody else dependant on you.

They need not be living in your home to be considered dependant, for if you had been supporting them financially when you die, they would be considered 'dependant'.

Where you decide to disinherit an adult child who you are not supporting in any way, the chances of them successfully contesting your Will are very remote, and therefore the costs of making a challenge are usually enough to discourage them.

That said, because the value of people's estates have been increasing, so have the number of Wills that are challenged.

The advice often given is make a small gift in the Will so that they cannot argue they have been 'overlooked' or worse still, state the reasons in the Will why nothing has been given to them. This is poor advice, as the Will will become a public document - its contents available for all to see. It also provides ammunition to those that are disinherited to attack if they disagree.

The best option is to write a separate letter and keep it with the Will (but don't attach it) addressed to your executors stating that you have intentionally not made a gift to such and such and briefly state the reasons why. If the person(s) does make a challenge then the document will be considered by the court along with all the other circumstances.

Anyone wishing to challenge a Will has six months from when the Grant of Probate was obtained and that deadline generally won't be increased.

It is the Will drafter's responsibility to advise of the potential problems and to make sure that if a challenge materialises, is unlikely to be successful. That includes ensuring the Will was properly signed and witnessed, that the person making the Will still had the mental capacity to do so and also that there was no undue influence from others in the decision making. These are all areas that are vulnerable if particular care is not taken.

geoffky

Thank you all some very useful info provided here...thank you ..:T:T

SailorSam

Do you remember the case last year, tho old woman in London left millions to her favourite chinese restaurant. Her family went as far as the high court trying to contest the will, and they failed. They got nothing.

besonders1

I didn't think that you could contest a will usually but I do know how it feels to be cheated as my dad was a victim of "not being the favourite" despite doing everything for my grandma. He got nothing when she died and my auntie who shoved her in a nursing home, got to inherit her house and paid off her mortgage.

localhero

Sailer_Sam wrote:

Do you remember the case last year, tho old woman in London left millions to her favourite chinese restaurant. Her family went as far as the high court trying to contest the will, and they failed. They got nothing.

Yes, I followed the case with interest, and it centred on a very wealthy lady who left her estate to a Chinese couple who had been friends of her and her late husband for many years. In fact her husband had spoke Mandarin.

They had no children of their own and it was the nieces and nephews (who apparently hadn't showed much interest in the lady's lifetime), who decided to hire a very expensive legal team to try and contest the Will.

As they weren't entitled to claim that 'reasonable provision' had not been made (not a child/spouse/dependant etc) they attacked the Will on the grounds that the their aunt lacked the mental capacity to make a Will and that the Chinese couple had exerted undue influence by taking her along to a bank to get her Will written.

Their claim ultimately failed, because whilst the aunt did have very early onset of dementia, she did have sufficient understanding of what she was doing. Secondly, the aunt had requested that she wanted to make a Will and the Chinese kindly offered to take her to the bank, they wisely waited outside - so the undue influence argument failed as well.

I thought the result was fair, and I was particularly pleased that the judge ordered that the costs of the action should be borne by the relatives rather than from the estate.

Old_Git

i know off a couple who separated but not divorced .
He later had a new partner .some time later he died and left everything to his partner .However his wife contested the will and won ,you cannot disinherit your spouse even if you are seperated .

localhero

Old_Git wrote: »

i know off a couple who separated but not divorced .
He later had a new partner .some time later he died and left everything to his partner .However his wife contested the will and won ,you cannot disinherit your spouse even if you are seperated .

It's likely she won because the finances of the marriage had not been sorted out. Even if they had formally divorced, the ex wife could still contest the Will if she was dependant on him for maintenance payments.

Swan_2

Old_Git wrote: »

i know off a couple who separated but not divorced .
He later had a new partner .some time later he died and left everything to his partner .However his wife contested the will and won ,you cannot disinherit your spouse even if you are seperated .

I don't know about anywhere else, but in Scots law, although you cannot entirely disinherit your spouse, you can legally leave them with only half of the moveable estate (unless they succeed in contesting the will)

this is what happened to the relative I mentioned in my post above, she had to leave what had been the matrimonial home because the benefactors of the will wanted to sell the house

sad_dog_lady

look up secret trusts ..... really google it interesting stuff

olly300

Old_Git wrote: »

i know off a couple who separated but not divorced .
He later had a new partner .some time later he died and left everything to his partner .However his wife contested the will and won ,you cannot disinherit your spouse even if you are seperated .

I know personally in English and Welsh law this is not true.

You can disinherit your spouse if you are separated however as stated by other posters if you want to ensure you can do this you need to get advice from a solicitor.