Fathers wishes being ignored

Leslie999

Gigglepig wrote: »

OP from your post it sounded like the intention was you would inherit after your dad and stepmum were both dead? So why do you think your dads wishes are being ignored? your stepmum is still alive, if you were not meant to inherit until she too passes away, perhaps she was a bit miffed at your inquiry? Just trying to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Don't - you have no rights as a stepchild. Act quickly.
If you act ' reasonably ' at this stage the law will not help you. Get a caveat on the will , an interim interdict on the estate and inform all banks etc that you know of by sending a special delivery letter with a copy of the interdict on the estate. If you don't send it special delivery they can claim they 'lost' it. My solicitor sent a certified copy, which they claimed to lose.
If your father wanted you to inherit after your stepmother died the estate would need to be put into a trust fund , protected. Get a copy of the will to find out. If it is supposed to be in a trust fund and she has put it into her own personal accounts this is theft as it is no longer protected.
Act quickly !
Go to the Police ... Don't. Take their excuse this is a 'civil' matter , it isn't , theft is theft .... The law is the law ....
The longer and more reasonably you act now the harder it becomes to get justice.
I speak from experience.
I acted reasonably and kept asking to meet with my stepfather and was ignored by him ( funnily enough one of the many abusive techniques he used on my mother) . I pleaded and begged with him and his solicitor and they both went ahead against the terms of the will....
Act fast...
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

keekeebees

Thank you Leslie999 this is very helpful info, and thank you to everyone else too,

ash28

I know a family where the father (widowed with 3 children) remarried - a widow with 1 child......

Father dies......will leaves estate to widow on the understanding that it is shared 4 ways on her death......when she died she'd left it all to her daughter.

The 3 children of the father were really upset because the money had been made by their father and their mother before he was widowed. They felt the stepmother had gone against their father's wishes.

The 3 children contested the will and won......it took 3 years and I have no idea how much it cost.....the stepsister no longer speaks to them.

Jinx

Step children are all to easily written out of wills when their parent dies leaving it all to their current spouse (not the childrens other parent) To me, this perfectly highlights why we should all have wills.

At least in Scotland we have legal rights to our parents moveable estates if nothing else.

Leslie999

Jinx wrote: »

Step children are all to easily written out of wills when their parent dies leaving it all to their current spouse (not the childrens other parent) To me, this perfectly highlights why we should all have wills.

At least in Scotland we have legal rights to our parents moveable estates if nothing else.

Even if you are written in the will of your parent, if the stepparent acts fast and gets Confirmation ( probate) while you are still trying to act reasonably and speak with them first, you can be left with nothing. Scottish laws are woefully inadequate to address a step parent ' stealing' an estate they have no legal right to.
If you don't know you must apply for a caveat before a step parent submits a will for Confirmation ( and how many laypeople know this , and how many want to take such a heavy handed approach during a very sensitive and emotional time) , then your only redress is a very expensive , lengthy and stressful Court of Session action.
Legal rights - Scottish law's excuse for not updating laws and protecting children and beneficiaries legally. They are not an equitable redress for theft ... (IMHO)
Legal rights - a stepparent can still move the estate into their own name ( not an executors account) , spend it and you can be left with nothing, even if the court says you are entitled.
Scottish law seems to 'opens the gate for the horse to bolt' and stands by while it races away, and then shrugs its shoulders...
Do not think leaving a will is any 'insurance ' to ensuring your estate goes to who you want. Truth is whoever can get access to it first gets it... Banks will help them too!
First to get confirmation is the winner and in Scotland we do not have 6 months to object , like in England .
It would have been easier to live with if my mum hadn't left a will, instead of her leaving a will then her husband steal from under the nose of her children and supported by a system ...
Best advice - spend it when you are alive !
If your husband / wife is abusive , leave before you die and don't give them the opportunity to abuse you in death as well..

securityguy

ash28 wrote: »

Father dies......will leaves estate to widow on the understanding that it is shared 4 ways on her death....

Was that "understanding" actually written into the will, as a trust, or was it just a verbal agreement?

Jinx

Leslie999 wrote: »

Even if you are written in the will of your parent, if the stepparent acts fast and gets Confirmation ( probate) while you are still trying to act reasonably and speak with them first, you can be left with nothing. Scottish laws are woefully inadequate to address a step parent ' stealing' an estate they have no legal right to.
If you don't know you must apply for a caveat before a step parent submits a will for Confirmation ( and how many laypeople know this , and how many want to take such a heavy handed approach during a very sensitive and emotional time) , then your only redress is a very expensive , lengthy and stressful Court of Session action.
Legal rights - Scottish law's excuse for not updating laws and protecting children and beneficiaries legally. They are not an equitable redress for theft ... (IMHO)
Legal rights - a stepparent can still move the estate into their own name ( not an executors account) , spend it and you can be left with nothing, even if the court says you are entitled.
Scottish law seems to 'opens the gate for the horse to bolt' and stands by while it races away, and then shrugs its shoulders...
Do not think leaving a will is any 'insurance ' to ensuring your estate goes to who you want. Truth is whoever can get access to it first gets it... Banks will help them too!
First to get confirmation is the winner and in Scotland we do not have 6 months to object , like in England .
It would have been easier to live with if my mum hadn't left a will, instead of her leaving a will then her husband steal from under the nose of her children and supported by a system ...
Best advice - spend it when you are alive !
If your husband / wife is abusive , leave before you die and don't give them the opportunity to abuse you in death as well..

I thought in Scotland we had up to 20 or 30 years to invoke the 'legal rights' if its not signed away? Or do you mean the step parent has spent all the moveable estate or moved it into their own name so it no longer appears as the original estate?

Leslie999

Jinx wrote: »

I thought in Scotland we had up to 20 or 30 years to invoke the 'legal rights' if its not signed away? Or do you mean the step parent has spent all the moveable estate or moved it into their own name so it no longer appears as the original estate?

If the money to satisfy 'legal rights' is in a personal account in the executor's name instead of a named Executor account, it is no longer protected should the executor go bankrupt, end up in care etc, it is classed as the personal asset of the executor, and is no longer 'protected ' as being part of the deceased's estate.
However, although you have 20 years from the date of death to claim your legal right, if the executor has spent it and has no assets , you can make a claim for it but never get it.
Even if you get a court order to place an Interim Interdict on the estate of the deceased, the executor can still access and spend it and there is not much you can do, except claim against their assets if they have any.