Help with will! Plssss

Loa2013

This is a very long story so I will try and put it quickly,

My mum n dad slplit up 16 yrs ago n divorced. Dad died 14 yrs ago and left all his estate to friends (he was an alcoholic).....as he and my gran were partners in a farm my gran cld buy him out for little money, so my granny n grandad said they would put all debts against his name and not let these friends get the money and keep it for our future!! Gran sold the farm. My mum told them that she would trust the as my grandfather was a man who kept his promise.......

My gran died last year followed my my grandad 3 weeks later, her will left everything to her daughter and his left us 4000 each!! There estate was 1000000 together......but the week before my g/dad died my aunt called my mum saying she had fnd the will n cldnt live with it as everything would have to sold, she had to get solicitor up.
Grandad died and everything was fine.....she was left everything! We asked to see the other will which was made 6 months before the recent one and in it everything was to b devided into 10 equal shares, 2 shares to her and 1 to each grandchild......

In the will which was more recent that left her everything the paragraph that said devide into 10 equal shares was still there?? But then states a) 4000 to each grandchild and b) rest of estate to my daughter.....when solicitor was questioned she said they used the old will as a template and had obvisouly forgotten to change that. The signature on the recent will is also dodgy looks traced as it has an out line.....also witness under 18? Is that allowed.

Hurt by it all as we were kept a promise all these years and don't know what to think. If mum had known this would have happened she would have contested my dads will as he lived in Scotland but they used his scottish will, plus solicitor admitted he was drunk when he made his will

Same solicitor that dealt with all of this...

dzug1

A witness must be 18 and not a beneficiary. It's potentially enough to invalidate the will.

I'm having difficulty following most of what you have written though. Sorry.

YesWillMan

dzug1 wrote: »

A witness must be 18 and not a beneficiary. It's potentially enough to invalidate the will.

I'm having difficulty following most of what you have written though. Sorry.

Depends if the will is in Scotland as a witness there only has to be 16

getmore4less

Can you be a bit clearer who is related to who (the blood lines) and where they live.

what the will say and who the benifitiaries are

I think witnesses need to be over 18 england/wales

Go and see another solicitor.

Loa2013

sorry if i havent been very clear - its a lot to try and explain.
it is my grandfathers will, the benifitiaries are his daughter (my aunt) and my brothers, sister and i were left 4000 along with my cousins.

i have had a good look and it says you have to be 18 to be a witness .....but im wondering if it was different in aug 2005?

the girl who signed as a witness was 17 at the time, and was on work experience in the solictors office.

the will was in england.

thanks for the replies appreciated!!

RAS

The witness is not valid IMO.

You need to ring the Probate Registry.

They cannot advise you about legalities but that can advise you on processes. I would ask about getting a caveat listed immediately; that prevents the will being proved for 6 months whilst you sort things out.

getmore4less

Still not clear who owned what, gave what to who, what has changed, when the wills were made, which ones may be invalid.

there may also be a complication with deaths so close, often there are survivor clauses.

as well as legacies there will be residual benifitiaries.

Loa2013

phoned probate office and they are going to have a look at will, although my sister spoke to 2 different solicitors who say you dont have to be 18 to sign as a witness.....confused!! argghhh.

no one owed anyone anything. my father died and my grandfather promised to keep my dads estate for when we were older but actual fact my aunt got everything - and we dont know if he meant for this to happen or if she has made this happen

RAS

Hi

There are three deaths here.

Your father's death seems to have results in gran owning and selling a property. In which country?

Nan died and left everything to her daughter. How much was her estate worth? Again, in which country?

Grandpa's will was changed sometime after nan's death and just before the old man died. This is the one you want to challenge because of the witness? The will was in England?? Where is the property? How much is that worth?

Even if it is invalid you are not entitled to 10 percent of £1m; it would be 10percent of grandad's estate.

Loa2013

my dads farm was in scotland which my gran got and sold.
my nan died then 3 weeks later my grandfather, both who lived and owned there home in england.

my grandfather had 2 wills - 1) nov 2004 and 2) aug 2005.

2004 will left my brother as executer. it says in the will, his estate to be divided into 10 equals shares and hold 1 share to each grandchild (8 of us) and 2 shares to his daughter.

2005 will left my aunt and solicitor as executers, it said his estate to divided into 10 equal shares and pay 4000 to each grandchild and the rest of his estate to his daughter.

as you see it doesn't make sense to leave that paragraph in as it isnt shared into 10 equal shares......when the solicitor was questioned and my aunt about this they said it was an error as they used the 2004 as a template and that the paragraph should have been removed??
but they must have read it it as it was change from to hold to to pay.

also the signature on the 2005 will has a very noteicble outline.

Loa2013

also should have mentioned, any page of will could have been retyped as only the last page was signed without it being dated, the only date on the will in the front page with isnt signed, neither are the pages which state who is to get what.