Jelly's will questions

daska

Jellywobble123 wrote: »

im sure this is how the wife did it...eg " you dont want the girls to pay a HUGE inheritance tax bill do you??"

That'd work. It's called Tag Questioning. The following is about children, but actually it applies to anyone who's functioning is impaired.

Avoid “tag” questions
A tag question makes a statement then adds a short question that invites corroboration of its truth, for instance: “you stayed at home that day, didn’t you?” They are one of the most powerfully suggestive forms of speech. They are also linguistically complex, requiring seven stages of reasoning in order to answer correctly. Children often answer “Yes” to a tag question in which the tag is negative. “Yes” is a valued answer, as it indicates cooperation; it is often perceived to be the answer that the adult wants. Tag questions of all kinds should be avoided with children. (A four-year-old was asked at trial: “No man licked your nunny, did he?”)

Shelldean

Mojisola wrote: »

I was present throughout when my parents made their wills. I made the appointments with the solicitor and was there throughout all the discussions. At no point did the solicitor suggest I shouldn't be there.

My husbands Nan NEEDS to make a will but is reluctant.
I called a solicitors to make an appointment, and they agreed. But i asked if it could be on my husbands day off so he could be present. ANd they said NO WAY, it would be seen as undue influence.
That solicitor has now refused to deal with his nan as she is reluctant to make the will. So when she passes my poor hubby wil get to deal with a huge estate and no will.

Jellywobble123

sounds to me that its a point up for interpretation by individual solicitors! As far as im aware no other person should be present or have any dealings with someone elses Will especially if they are going to be a beneficiary.

daska

Shelldean wrote: »

My husbands Nan NEEDS to make a will but is reluctant.
I called a solicitors to make an appointment, and they agreed. But i asked if it could be on my husbands day off so he could be present. ANd they said NO WAY, it would be seen as undue influence.
That solicitor has now refused to deal with his nan as she is reluctant to make the will. So when she passes my poor hubby wil get to deal with a huge estate and no will.

That's such a difficult one! Often it's because it means truly accepting that you are going to die one day - a concept which not everyone is completely happy with, especially as they get older. It can also be that they want to leave their estate in a way which they feel will not be approved of.

My nan didn't leave will for just that reason and, though there was no 'estate' as such, there was a savings plan that my parents had completely forgotten about which she had intended to be used for a burial. Even when I reminded them they still had no memory of it and as it hadn't been filed in the correct place so they didn't find it when they looked. They couldn't afford a burial and the paperwork turned up 8 months after she was cremated.

If you have the money to pre-pay your own will and funeral you could try involving her in those decisions, it will bring the subject out in the open without it being 'about her'. And from there it's not such a huge leap to ask what she'd prefer. And then to the 'how do you make sure you get what you want'.

ratty67

This is a hard one (and I thought my DH had problems!) but I'm going to endeavour to help.

Jellywobble123 wrote: »

The wife obviously just got the EPA issued through the solicitor and then wafted it at the bank whenever she wanted to withdraw his cash,no doubt because they were long standing customers the staff didnt suspect she was actually stealing from him.

I'm willing to bet all withdrawals were made via ATM or cheque or even internet banking. No need to go into the bank, no need to wave a worthless piece of paper at a single member of staff.

The nephew needs to phone the banks estate team and order copies of ALL bank statements INCLUDING the joint account. He's entitled to have the ones for the joint account up until the point of your dad's death. That way you'll be closer to knowing HOW she moved the money. And where it went after that.

Even in a simple and straightforward case he'd need the statements. They are a good way of finding insurance policies for example. Were there any? Who were the beneficiaries of them? I bet I already know the answers to those last questions *sigh*

Jellywobble123 wrote: »

It would be interesting to see the original application because I would bet the form was filled out by her with Dads illegible signature on the bottom,like on his Will.I doubt he even knew what he was signing for, poor man.I will ask my solicitor to obtain a copy if they can.

Indeed it will be interesting to know. But as it was never registered it's almost neither here nor there.

Have I read correctly that the nephew has been promised £25,000 to execute the Will of your late Dad's wifes chosing? Does he know that as executor he can't be PAID to do the job? That he's only allowed to claim expenses? That when he's finished he has to produce Estate Accounts showing work done? That ALL beneficiaries are allowed to see? He could also find himself liable for mistakes...

Has your solicitor lodged a caveat at the probate office to prevent the incorrect will being 'proved'? If not, it needs doing pretty sharpish. IIRC it costs £15 and lasts for 6 months. There are details about that in my thread that RAS has linked to.

I've bookmarked this thread so I can find it easily and I'll keep checking back. If I think of anything else I'll let you know OP. That was all off the top of my head!

RAS

Jellywobble123 wrote: »

still trying to convince the executor nephew to do his job and start investigating this,theres so much he could find out free of charge rather than us paying through the nose for solicitors to do the same job! Hes frightened to flag up doubts about Dads Will as he is somewhat loyal to the wife after 25 years and he still doesnt believe she would do all this despite him having the medical records in front of him! Also she has offered him £25k if we dont continue...maybe thats swaying him...surely he can get into hot water if he doesnt report all this that we have highlighted to him? Can we get in touch with the Probate Office ourselves rather than waiting for him to do something constructive?

Hi

I would suggest that you and your sister BOTH contact the Probate office and express your concerns. You need to get that caveat registered with the Probate Office urgently.

There is an office in Winchester

4th Floor
Cromwell House
Andover Road
Winchester Hampshire
England
SO23 7EW

You can ring them up and make an appointment.

Jellywobble123

ratty67 wrote: »

This is a hard one (and I thought my DH had problems!) but I'm going to endeavour to help.

I'm willing to bet all withdrawals were made via ATM or cheque or even internet banking. No need to go into the bank, no need to wave a worthless piece of paper at a single member of staff.

!

We suspect that she has probably withdrawn large amounts of cash and had to use the Branch as it was over and above the daily limit on a cashpoint,.She didnt use internet banking,doesnt possess a computer or know how to use one.Either that or she was going into the Branch and doing cheque transfers from one account to another.

Every week she went up to the Bank which my sister and I thought odd but she just brushed it off as " theres alot of bills to pay" and wouldnt be drawn...always very uppity if you questioned her on anything,coming back at you with "why you asking? dont you trust me?..!! :rotfl:

I took a caveat out in January after reading about it in this site! So we are ok on that front.

The executor nephew appears to be seeing sense since reading the medical records sent by the GP and realises the promise of £25k was a ploy to keep him "on side" as far as the scheming wife was concerned.We still await the records from the Mental Health Team,but the GP records have copies of all correspondance from them anyway.

He has now contacted the solicitors who drew up the Will highlighting his concerns in light of the med records and requesting an explanation. also he has asked for a copy of the EPA application as he is now more convinced that the wife has breached this.He has also taken on board my suggestion of obtaining the Bank statements to see all the account transactions... Praise the Lord!!:j Hes finally seen the light! Lets hope it stays that way from now on as we have spent time and money making enquiries that he could have done as Executor for little or no cost at all!.

Thanks to you all for your interest and suggestions,its a great help!

RAS

Good news.

Can i ask if the solicitor named as executor is also the one that drew up the will?

If so, I think the next step is for your nephew to suggest that the solicitor is in a position of conflict of interest and should resign the firm's executorship ASAP.

Nephew can always appoint his own solicitor to do the work. Indeed in view of the situation, he will need to as wife has denuded the estate of most of the assets illegally.

Speak to the Law Society. Not the best of professional bodies at policing their profession but they will advise what the basics are.

Jellywobble123

RAS wrote: »

Good news.

Can i ask if the solicitor named as executor is also the one that drew up the will?

If so, I think the next step is for your nephew to suggest that the solicitor is in a position of conflict of interest and should resign the firm's executorship ASAP.

Nephew can always appoint his own solicitor to do the work. Indeed in view of the situation, he will need to as wife has denuded the estate of most of the assets illegally.

Speak to the Law Society. Not the best of professional bodies at policing their profession but they will advise what the basics are.

Yes they are one and the same and they also did the EPA surprise surprise. I will let said nephew know of your suggestion Thanks

RAS

Jellywobble123 wrote: »

Yes they are one and the same and they also did the EPA surprise surprise.

Hmm - considering that there was NO legal requirement to obtain legal advice in completing an EPA form ever, money for old rope.

Will PM you sometime soon.