Contesting a Will

Rev

DannyBo wrote: »

The difference being; you were your Mother's child. Neither sibling nor niece/nephew.

In the OP's (alleged case) the 5 parties are equal (asides the fact that the Mil raised some of them)

Yes, that's true but they were all close and helped care for my mother in her final days.

They could feel entitled and think they deserve something.

If the mil raised two of them then it's not equal, she will obviously put them before people she saw once a year.

haveiacase

Thank you for all your comments everyone , its given me lots to think about

YesWillMan

Mojisola wrote: »

If you can be objective for a moment - stand back and look at the facts -

a woman takes on her grandchildren after her daughter dies and they grow up with her and their grandfather,

they care for her and look after her into her old age,

she also has other grandchildren from her deceased son - she has seen these children maybe 10/15 times since her son died in 1998.

If you were one of the two children raised by the grandparents and your grandmother left her estate divided between you and the other grandchildren, would you think that fair?

Remember, this is effectively their parent who has died.

To expand on this post I feel that not only is all this is true and relevant but there are other matters to take into account. No mention is made of the 2 childrens father and hence his family that could be brought into the equation. Assuming this does not exist then those 2 children only had any potential inheritance from Grandparents. Whereas the OP's 3 children have potential inheritance from the OP and her family.

I assume the OP's husband left a substantial inheritance which he could have left part to his 3 children rather than all to the OP.
Had the estate been left equally by Grandmother then I feel sure the 2 children cared for by her and cared for her by them will have had a very good case to challenge such distribution.

OP should concentrate on giving away her annual IHT allowance to her 3 children not waste it on flights of fancy which will only spread bad feelings between the cousins and give them the same attitude to life as the OP obviously has.

Mojisola

Rev wrote: »

If the mil raised two of them then it's not equal, she will obviously put them before people she saw once a year.

This makes a massive difference.

If I was the grandmother, my reasoning would be along the lines -
my son's children weren't left short when he died, they still have their mother and now a step-father as well and they haven't bothered to visit me or help me when I needed it;

my daughter's children lost her (and there's no mention of a father on the scene) - my husband and I have been their parents for years and they cared for me right up to the end. My estate is the only inheritance they will get so I want to leave it to them.

My parents haven't left their money divided equally between their children. There is a good reason for this and the solicitor had them write a letter, giving their thinking behind the distribution, which is kept with the wills just in case any of us try to query it after the second death.

The grandmother's solicitor may have done the same.

haveiacase

Hello , this is what i emailed to the beneficirie....

Dear ****

I hope you are feeling a bit better now that the funeral is over. I think it went well and Grandma would be pleased about it all and surprised at how many people were there- a full church.
I am afraid we were all very shocked to read her will. Although we knew the girls had been left out, which was hard enough to take, you had not told me that all the other great grand children had been included, I had to leave quickly then as I was so upset.
No way would this have been Grandma's wishes.
Did she understand what she was signing and what it all meant? I very much doubt it.
Why was my husbands side excluded?
You told me that *** had called the solicitor last June which I now find out is a lie. I do not like to be lied to so please can I now have the truth? Who called in the solicitor to change her will and why?
I have written to the solicitor and will speak to him soon.
Being given a box of old photos which we had given to Grandma over the last 30 years as a memento,was the final straw and very upsetting .
All I ask is for the truth.
I have kept the contact going with Grandma ever since *** died, ringing regularly, remembering every birthday, Mother's Day, Christmas etc, even though I got nothing in return and I gave her a 90th birthday party.
I have also helped you and **** financially in the past
Grandad, your Mother and my husband would never wanted all this to happen, so please for their sake, tell me the truth. If things have been done wrong then they can be corrected.
I am sorry to have to say all this but injustice is not fair, so I hope you can tell the truth.

***


basically , the girl who was taken in for care by MIL told me last week when they saw the will that a relative on her side asked the solicitors to come in to change the will , it appears this isnt true! so obviously grandma was coerced!!

madbadrob

Why is it obvious she was coerced? Why is this money so important to you? Im sorry but unless you can prove beyond any reasonable doubt that this is the case you wont get a change or even the will declared void

ROb

Itsgottabedone

haveiacase wrote: »

I aksed one of the benaficiries to show me the will at the wake yesterday and couldnt belive my kids werent on it , i took pictures of it on my phone to read properly when we got home

Classy behaviour!

haveiacase

madbadrob wrote: »

Why is it obvious she was coerced? Why is this money so important to you? Im sorry but unless you can prove beyond any reasonable doubt that this is the case you wont get a change or even the will declared void

ROb

I have received an email from the executors (my niece) husband , asking me to only contact him , not my niece as i am distressing her , he has told me he spoke to the solicitor of MIL`s affairs who received my letter today asking if MIL was mentally able , apparently he is writing back to say he considered her perfectly with her facultys and if he didnt , he would have requested a medical certificate etc....

just because he is going to write to me to say this , doesnt actually necessarily mean that another solicitor company in my home town wont take up the case hopefully

ciderboy2009

haveiacase wrote: »

just because he is going to write to me to say this , doesnt actually necessarily mean that another solicitor company in my home town wont take up the case hopefully

A fool and their money......

zzzLazyDaisy

I'm sorry, but this has to be a Troll thread.

I have never known anyone take the will to a wake.

When my mum died we didn't even think about sorting out the will until after the funeral, and we certainly wouldn't have been carrying the will around with us - it is a legal document which is needed to obtain probate and settle the estate, if it was lost or damaged it would cause all sorts of problems.