Contesting a will

System

Sammie_ wrote: »

Now I am surprised that her legal fees come out of the estate.

I'm sorry, I didn't make it clear. I meant that if she won then the legal costs would come out of the estate. As you say there was little residue then it would indeed be a Pyrrhic victory as the thing that she was after would probably have to be sold to pay the legal bills.

dzug1

Sammie_ wrote: »

My other concern is that if she is challenging the preparation of the will, then if it is revoked, it will go back to the mirror will.

I think she's attempting to 'challenge' on two fronts.

One is 'reasonable provision', which seems to be a valid claim - the only question is how much is reasonable

The other is to attempt to challenge the validity of the will as a whole - trying to say it was coercion, or not of sound mind, not signed and witnessed properly, etc. That sounds highly speculative and on the basis of what you've said so far, doomed to failure.

Does the will give any indication of WHY he changed his mind - or does the solicitor who prepared it have any further 'evidence'?

System

I don't even think the reasonable provision is a valid claim as the only thing she is not getting is ownership of the house. She is getting the pensions, any other moneys and a right to live in the house until death.

xylophone

It seems to me that the provision made is entirely reasonable. When the parties married each kept control of the proceeds of the sale of their individual properties. The fact that the stepmother invested those monies at a poor interest rate is immaterial.
The father, as was entirely reasonable, wished his children to benefit from the proceeds of sale of his and their mother's home. He used the proceeds to buy a house in his own name in which he and his new wife lived.

His will gives her the right to stay in the house but the house passes to his children. She benefits from his pensions.

It seems to me difficult to argue that reasonable provision has not been made.

Sammie_

Well, I must thank you all for your replies. So very informative. I am feeling so much better now. This site of Martin's is wonderful for lots of reasons, and this is one of them. So many people roam around it with so much knowledge.

I don't know what the pension arrangements are for his wife, maybe they are not enough and there is her 'provided for' challenge?

So tell me, is there any reason that the house would have to be sold to provide for her?

xylophone

I would be very surprised if the Trust could be broken - is the house now registered in the name of the Exors in Trust for you and your sister?
What do your father's solicitor/ the exors have to say about the matter? As far as I can see the ball is now in their court.

Sammie_

No it hasn't yet been conveyed to the Trust, the Solicitor says that his charges will go up to do that.. surprise, surprise!

I haven't asked the Execs what they think about this yet, I am just trying to keep a bit quiet. The Solicitor for the will is an executor as well as one of the Trustees. I just waiting to see what is going to come from the wife's solicitor before spending any more money.

The Solicitor who drew up the will is also exectutor. He has stated that "It may become necessary for you and your sister to be legally represented and I thought I should make clear in that case my firm would be unable to act for either of you so you would have to consult another firm of solicitors".

I can understand that.

He says the Trustees "have to take a neutral stance"

xylophone

Yes indeed - a conflict of interest must be avoided.
Something that occurs to me is that when the solicitor made the will for your father, he is likely to have kept notes about your father's intentions, especially if (as seems the case) your father was at pains to establish that he was 'compos mentis' and especially if the solicitor felt that there was likely to be any question of a dispute following your father's death. It might be worth bearing this in mind.

Of course as the arrangement ( to protect part of the estate for the "first' family) is very common (see my link to "Right of Residence Clause" above), his "sixth sense" might not have been alerted.

Another thought, what happened to the rest of your father's assets - was there provision for her from these?

Anyway, I hope everything will be sorted out as you would wish.

xylophone

Another thought, with respect to what would happen if your stepmother should wish to downsize, make quite sure that you know what kind of trust (life interest of residue/right of residence was set up - see link.

Soapn

xylophone wrote: »

Another thought, with respect to what would happen if your stepmother should wish to downsize, make quite sure that you know what kind of trust (life interest of residue/right of residence was set up - see link.

Does she want to downsize? She was with the guy for 25+ years, maybe she was shocked he'd left the house to his kids and is reacting in anger?