preventing ,contesting a will

Old_Git

A brief outline .My aunt lives on her own .She has been a widow for 13 years .
Last year I discovered she had never made a will .She owns a house and has savings total value around £200,000 .
My aunt told me her house was to go to her inlaws but she would leave me something in her will .I wrote a letter out for her solicitor saying she owned her house and had money ,and where she had her money .(aunt didnt know I was writing letter for solicitor ).
She made a will and left everything to me . She told me if it wasnt for me she would be dead and she hadnt seen her inlaws for years .( apart from the home helps I am her only regular visitor ).My sister hasnt been to see my aunt or phoned her for over a year

Now the problem is my sister says she will contest the will ,she also wants to contest our mothers will to stop me getting a share .As netiher my aunt or my mother have died I want to make sure everything is in order to prevent my sister contesting anything .

Savvy_Sue

Well, the best way of making it clear that there's no point contesting a will is for the testator (person writing the will) to put a note into it explaining why they are not leaving anything to X.

If the will has already been written, then this CAN be done through a separate 'Letter of wishes', I believe, although this doesn't have quite the same standing. But it can be used to demonstrate that the testator has thought about what they're doing and means it.

At least that's my understanding.

I think the only grounds for contesting would be if your sister was financially dependent on the testator (which presumably she's not, at least for your aunt) OR if your sister could demonstrate that you had brought undue influence on your aunt, OR that your aunt was not of sound mind when she made the will.

Why would your sister think she could stop you getting a share of your mother's will? What grounds does she have for thinking she's entitled to anything from her aunt?

dzug1

There is nothing you can do to prevent the sister shelling out £400 (I think - plus solicitor's fees) of her own money to contest the will.

From what you say the challenge is doomed to failure though.

chesky369

Your sister will think twice about it when push comes to shove and she tries to get a solicitor involved. They will soon disabuse her of her right to a share, if matters are as you state.

Gers

nowretiredandlazingaround wrote: »

I know for a fact that one of my children, who I have fallen out with and want nothing more to do with him, will want to challenge my will as I have left him nothing and I told him that.

What he doesn't know is that I have written in the will exactly why I have left him nothing and that he had told me that he would challenge the will.

Pity I will not be around to see what happens.

Jim

If both you and your son are in Scotland then your plan is doomed to failure:

Children seem to be rather more fairly treated perhaps in Scotland. No matter what a will says children always have the right to claim their “Legal Rights”. It is virtually impossible to completely disinherit children in Scotland – unless the whole estate of the deceased comprises land and buildings. It is difficult to imagine many estates comprising this type of property only. In Scotland a child left out of a will, or where his or her parent has died without leaving a will, still has an automatic claim to a proportion of all the estate which is not land and buildings. The child’s need is not an issue which is a clear contrast to England where children can make claims if left out of a will but only based on need or proof of maintenance of the child

And read http://scottishwillservices.co.uk/

harryhound

In England & Wales, as long as you are not dumping a relative on the state or into penury; then the law is not interested - quite rightly in my opinion.

Most families tend to have a member, who you know will waste or worse the money, by reasons of irresponsibility, or drug problems.

With youngsters, there is always the danger that they will buy something they otherwise could not afford and kill themselves in it. I personally know of two examples.

I've also been two two funerals, where there was very much a feeling of them and us; where some family members had discovered they had been cut out of the will. In both cases the deceased had the status of "childless aunt". In one case I got letters from the solicitor the family executors had appointed, trying to probe into my relationship with the deceased (Next door neighbour).
I studiously stuck to the line that the will appeared perfectly clear to me and they had better get on and administer it.
I eventually got a cheque for (say) 12K in today's money made out to me. In actual fact the money was left to my two children, but I didn't want to send it back and point out they needed to look after it for another 10 years - so I set up a simple trust account for them - they found it very useful when they went to university.

A sudden rush of money to the wallet is a very mixed blessing.

(Our Scottish cousins seem to have laws much more allied to the French heritage, with whom they had alliances against the ill educated city folk south of the border. something to be considered by anyone with property in a foreign jurisdiction; thinking of making a will.)

; .

dzug1

nowretiredandlazingaround wrote: »

I know for a fact that one of my children, who I have fallen out with and want nothing more to do with him, will want to challenge my will as I have left him nothing and I told him that.

What he doesn't know is that I have written in the will exactly why I have left him nothing and that he had told me that he would challenge the will.

Pity I will not be around to see what happens.

Jim

Even that's not foolproof.

If your other children do not share your view of him (or even if they do but think he should get something) they can agree a deed of variation to rewrite the will to give him a share.

Savvy_Sue

dzug1 wrote: »

Even that's not foolproof.

If your other children do not share your view of him (or even if they do but think he should get something) they can agree a deed of variation to rewrite the will to give him a share.

Yes, but that's up to them.

My parents' wills specifically exclude their full blood grandchildren if one of us pre-deceases them, but I know that the executors of the will would suggest a DoV if that happened, and if that wasn't possible I would personally hand over up to half my share if my siblings wouldn't play ball!

I know what the reasoning for it is, and I think it's stupidly wrong.

Gers

nowretiredandlazingaround wrote: »

I can leave my house to whoever I want, all he can get is a share of any money and belongings and there won't be much left.

He wants the house sold and the proceeds divided between him and his sisters. If the house is left to my daughters there is nothing he can do.

The will was drawn up by a solicitor and I was told my errant son has no claim on the house.

Jim

Just what I said! And not what you said originally....

nowretiredandlazingaround wrote: »

I know for a fact that one of my children, who I have fallen out with and want nothing more to do with him, will want to challenge my will as I have left him nothing and I told him that.

What he doesn't know is that I have written in the will exactly why I have left him nothing and that he had told me that he would challenge the will.

Pity I will not be around to see what happens.

Jim

No matter what a will says children always have the right to claim their “Legal Rights”. It is virtually impossible to completely disinherit children in Scotland – unless the whole estate of the deceased comprises land and buildings. It is difficult to imagine many estates comprising this type of property only. In Scotland a child left out of a will, or where his or her parent has died without leaving a will, still has an automatic claim to a proportion of all the estate which is not land and buildings.

wireframe_2

nowretiredandlazingaround wrote: »

Why do people come on here and nitpick what others have posted and think I do not know what I am on about? My son was told I was not leaving the house to be shared amongst him and his sisters he replied I will contest the will. He can't end of story. Jim

its people like you that give this board a bad name - you discourage people from giving(what was, actually) very sound advice. Your original statement didn't make any of the later things you've said very clear. Gers gave you some very accurate and relevant legal advice. You said

nowretiredandlazingaround wrote:

I know for a fact that one of my children, who I have fallen out with and want nothing more to do with him, will want to challenge my will as I have left him nothing and I told him that.

But you haven't "LEFT HIM NOTHING" have you? By Scottish law, you've left him a portion of everything that isn't your estate or land. So a good share of any cash you have. Its irrelevant if you don't have much, its SOMETHING and something is more than NOTHING, which is what you said he'd get. Gers isn't Nitpicking, he's offering you sound legal advice. One would have thought at retirement age you'd have grown up enough to accept good advice when it was given (and being Scottish, I would have expected you to relish good advice if it was given for FREE).

Gers

nowretiredandlazingaround wrote: »

Why do people come on here and nitpick what others have posted and think I do not know what I am on about?

My son was told I was not leaving the house to be shared amongst him and his sisters he replied I will contest the will.

He can't end of story.

Jim

YOU may know what you were on about but the rest of us responded to what you actually wrote, which is different from what you actually meant and therefore misleading!

<goes off to do ESP classes>