Finding out contents of a Will

oldbill1969

My wifes uncle died a short while ago and he is survived by his wife. They didnt have any children and he classed my wife as a daughter. We know he made a will as he asked his brother (wifes father) for all her details. We are concerned that we don't know any details and we fear that the aunt will change the will and leave it all to her side of the family which would have her Uncle turning in his grave. My questions are:-

1. Are we able to find out the contents of the Will
2. Can she change the Will after the uncles death

ebaybaby

This Morning done a peice on this last week and one of the questions was about viewing someone else's will. The advice the lawyer gave was yes it is possible to view and get copies even of any will.
Not sure about changing the will?
Here are some links that may help:
http://www.itv-thismorning.co.uk/NewsAndFeaturesArticle.aspx?fid=2439&tid=2

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Rightsandresponsibilities/index.htm?cids=Google_PPC&cre=Rights_and_Responsibilities

MoaningMyrtle

You can get copies of wills from the Probate Office where the death was registered. You can't change a will, but you can contest it, you would have to take legal advice.

Savvy_Sue

If all the named beneficiaries of a will agree, you CAN get a Deed of Variation which changes the effect of the will.

oldbill1969

posted by mistake..ignore

oldbill1969

I'm totally confused by this Will system, my wifes uncle made a will but obviously it all passed onto his wife upon his death,If the will was made with the intention that upon the death of his wife it would pass to my wife, whats to stop her writing her own will now ?

zzzLazyDaisy

oldbill1969 wrote: »

I'm totally confused by this Will system, my wifes uncle made a will but obviously it all passed onto his wife upon his death,If the will was made with the intention that upon the death of his wife it would pass to my wife, whats to stop her writing her own will now ?

nothing - unless the gift to the wife was written in trust

filigree_2

Two separate issues:

First is that you need to check the will to see what Uncle intended. If he left anything to his niece then you can pursue this to see she gets what was due to her. If he left it all to his widow then there's little you can do. It is possible to contest a will if you can prove that you were dependent on the deceased but broadly speaking if he has no biological children then the law will uphold his right to leave his estate to his wife.

Second is what will the auntie put in her own will. This depends if the money was left to her in trust with the stipulation that the niece would inherit when Auntie died. If Uncle left the money to his wife with some informal hope that she'd pass the money on, then it's down to Auntie's conscience whether she follows his wishes. I'm afraid that's out of your hands now, she is legally entitled to nominate anyone she pleases and if she wants to leave it to the donkey sanctuary then she can. If Uncle wanted his niece to get anything it should have been taken care of in his will. Auntie isn't obliged to leave the niece anything if she doesn't want to, regardless of what the family think Uncle would have wanted.

localhero

A lesson to be learnt from all this is take proper professional advice so that what you want to happen, in fact actually does happen.

Because if they did cheap and cheerful mirror wills leaving their estates to each other (which is what I supect), uncle was taking a needless risk.

Visit www.ipw.org.uk for a willwriter in your area.
They are insured, regulated & up to date with the law.

oldbill1969

filigree wrote: »

Two separate issues:

First is that you need to check the will to see what Uncle intended. If he left anything to his niece then you can pursue this to see she gets what was due to her. If he left it all to his widow then there's little you can do. It is possible to contest a will if you can prove that you were dependent on the deceased but broadly speaking if he has no biological children then the law will uphold his right to leave his estate to his wife.

Second is what will the auntie put in her own will. This depends if the money was left to her in trust with the stipulation that the niece would inherit when Auntie died. If Uncle left the money to his wife with some informal hope that she'd pass the money on, then it's down to Auntie's conscience whether she follows his wishes. I'm afraid that's out of your hands now, she is legally entitled to nominate anyone she pleases and if she wants to leave it to the donkey sanctuary then she can. If Uncle wanted his niece to get anything it should have been taken care of in his will. Auntie isn't obliged to leave the niece anything if she doesn't want to, regardless of what the family think Uncle would have wanted.

I'm sure it was a joint will and I am also sure my wife was included as he asked for her personal details, the question remains are we able to find out the contents of the will even if the aunty is still alive ?

localhero

First of all there's no such thing as a joint will - every individual makes a will. What is likely is that they made what's known as mirror wills in which they leave their estates to each other, then on second death to a or a & b etc.

As Filigree pointed out, the first step is to contact the probate registry and take a look at his will. If he left his estate in trust to spouse for life, it might pass to your wife in which case she will definitey inherit. If he gave his estate outright to his wife, then your wife is at her mercy, for as it's been pointed out she can change her will any anytime before she dies.

So first step get a copy of the will. Let us know how you get on.