Caveat

freda11

Thanks rpc, the estate is roughly, house £150k monies £50k. The solicitor rang my husband to say they have written to probate registrar to see if 'he has a case' if the registrar doesn't think he has he can then grant probate. if registrar thinks he has a case then he will instruct for directions.

madbadrob

Freda reading the probates own advice online says that for a caveat to be removed it requires the agreement of both parties (after he has made his attendance) and should that not be the case then only a court can have it removed. I would be interested to know what happens after the solicitor has written asking for it to be removed. Also I do not believe that the Probate office will offer any direction as to whether he has a case or not because this is for the person involved to decide and they do say they do not offer legal advice.

Rob

freda11

solicitor says if he does not have any valid reason for entering the caveat, he will not be able to provide sufficient evidence to the Probate registry as to why the caveat should remain in place, and this being the case, the Probate registry will then hopefully remove the caveat.

Keep everything crossed and I will keep you posted!

madbadrob

Freda,

I think your solicitor may be giving you incorrect information.

From http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/probate/caveats

What if there is no agreement?
This is where matters become more complicated and you are strongly recommended to seek legal advice. The question of costs may arise and there is a possibility that you could become liable to pay not only your own costs but those of the other person as well. The matters mentioned below are dealt with only in the most general of terms. If you are acting without a solicitor, and require information about any of these steps you should contact the Registry where the caveat was entered, but please bear in mind that the staff cannot give you any advice on how you should proceed.
The person applying for Probate may issue a "warning" against you. This requires you to formally state your interest in the estate. If you fail to respond, he can apply to have your caveat removed. If you respond and enter an "appearance", the caveat will remain in force indefinitely, until matters are finally resolved.
either you or the person applying for Probate may issue a summons which will be heard by the District Probate Registrar
either you or the person applying for Probate may commence a Probate action (court proceedings) in the estate.

That states it stays indefinately until you both reach an agreement. If not you will have to summons him or start court action. That is my interpretation of the above

Rob

freda11

Our solicitor has written to his solicitor to see what the appearance says. So will now have to wait and see. I was looking over some paperwork, and now remember that on the solicitors statement with the Larke V Nugus there were a couple of errors, our solicitor did send them a further letter rectifying the errors. Error 1 was in one para I was referred to as the daughter and not daughter in law and my husband was referred to as the son in law and not step son, could this cause us a problem? Apart from that the statement clearly states how he was of sound mind and knew exactly what he was doing and that the will could still be contested, then it goes on to say that's why the solicitor advised dad in law to put in a letter of explanation as to why he was leaving son out. The statement also says that step dad asked my husband to contact son to see if he would come and see him but son refused to come. This is true, and he was so cold to my husband on the phone and said too many things have gone on and too late now. He was more interested in his mother in law who was poorly at the time. Imagine how upsetting it was for my husband to have to tell him this. We think he called at the nursing home the day before he died, but by then it was too late. And gathering from what he wrote in some letters to his father in the last 2 months of his life he only called to try and ask him why he had been left out of the will. The letters he wrote were horrid, thankfully the last 2, dad in law was too poorly to read and never knew about them. He stated in them if he did not leave something in his will to him then he would cause trouble. They were all written without prejudice, although prejudice was spelt wrong.

could the couple of errors on the solicitors statement be used against us?

madbadrob

Not if the solicitor has issued another statement recognising the errors I wouldnt have thought so.

Rob

freda11

also i have just read the first letter from blood sons solicitor to ours, it goes along the line of ...investigating any potential claim in the estate of .... then asks for the L v N questionnaire to be completed.
Does that mean they are more interested in a claim for money as opposed to the will not being completed correctly? If so then they should have not commenced with a caveat.

madbadrob

Freda would need more than that to be able to give you a reasoned response

Rob

John_Pierpoint

Yes of course, at lease he is being rational and just wants to be bought off.
There is nothing worse than a party saying "this is a matter of principle".

Solicitors who go to court and make simple mistakes about the facts are more likely to create a "split the baby" result, as the judge feels he cannot believe either party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgment_of_Solomon

freda11

John we assumed because of the caveat he was going along the lines that the will was invalid for some reason ie undue influence or not of sound mind. If he is wanted money from the estate then a caveat can not be used for inheritance act. This has to be done once probate is granted. All the letter says rob is what i said above follwed on by 'or alternatively if you cannot answer the same, inform us of the circumstances surrounding your witnessing of the will.' As the solicitor was a witness. It pens of by 'we hope you have above info available to provide us with answers to our client. If you have file papers we would appreciate a copy of same sa that it will enable us to avoid eventuality of a dispute in the estate.'