Advice on contesting a will?

MaybeItsMaybeline

Hello, sorry everyone this is long and complex problem so I hope you packed a lunch before reading!

My father recently passed away after being terminally ill for eight months. Three weeks before he received his terminal diagnosis, my mother found out he'd been having an affair and told him to leave the family home. He went straight to the house of his mistress but told the children who were not living at home that my mum and him were going to 'work things out'. Two weeks after he received his terminal diagnosis (late Novemberish) he was engaged to the other woman - a decision that raised quite a few eyebrows as it isn't like my dad to rush in to something like that, especially while still married to my mum. Since Christmas time he'd been telling all seven of his children that he was going to leave his entire estate to his new fiancee who he hardly knew. He said that she told him that she would share it out equally. On numerous occasions I tried to explain that this woman would not fulfill his wishes and will keep his money.

My father's medical condition caused toxins to get in to his blood stream which causes people to behave strangely. Even when he had received his terminal diagnosis, he was still convinced that he would have a magical cure and receive a transplant despite what doctors had told him. He also was convinced that he was going to Spain for treatment, going to compete on Bargain Hunt and that he was going to get a puppy despite being practically bed bound. Throughout all of this, his fiancee would go along with this and tell him it was true, she even denied following up suggestions from a GP that he may need psychiatric support to help deal with such a horrible medical condition. This woman became his sole carer yet would leave him at home alone at night to party. As you can see, my siblings and were worried about his state of mind and care. My dad told my sister and I that he couldn't even remember making a will. He told my mum that it was going to be shared equally with the children and that his funeral was paid for and arranged.

After dad died it soon became clear that this was not true. The funeral had not been arranged and paid for. The new woman took over funeral arrangements leaving his family out and as one of the executors of his will, she became very secretive and determined to withhold his will from my mum (still legally his wife) and his children. I found out from my Grandma - who is also just sussing out that this woman is bad news - that my father signed the will in June when he was rushed to hospital unresponsive. They thought he was going to die that day (by the way, not one of us kids were notified until the day after thus we could have been denied the right to say goodbye to our father). So they called a solicitor there and then for him to sign the will. The thing is that my dad could barely write his name at this time. He didn't even know what day it was half the time. That was the beginning of June. He died on the 23rd that month.

He was spirited the day before he died and seemed clear headed yet any time before then he was muddled and not quite right in himself. It's obvious looking at the will, now that we finally have a copy (this took a long time as this woman was ignoring our letters/texts/calls), that he was struggling to sign it. I have a birthday card he tried to write for me two days after he signed the will and you can see the multiple attempts he had to make to write 'love dad' crossed out on the wrong bit of the card. Before he died he paid her rent and all her bills for a year and gave her his car and bank card. I've been concerned ever since they got engaged so quick that this woman has been trying to coerce my dad in to signing over his money to her.

The will says that the estate solely goes to the new woman who he has only been with for 8 months and that his children only inherit his estate if she dies before him. There's no mention of his wife and my mum isn't really interested in having his estate, she just wants it shared between the children like he said it would be. But I've been told it is unusual for a spouse - even when separated - to not be acknowledged in a will due to their legal stature? My main question is though, can I as his daughter contest the will on the grounds that he was not mentally aware of what he was doing? Could I jointly contest it with my mum and siblings and could we still receive legal aid in wake of the changes regarding what qualifies for it? Is this woman considered to be breaking the law by coercing a terminally ill in to basically signing his life to her?

Thank you for reading. Sorry it is such a long post.

pmlindyloo

As far as I am aware legal aid is not given for contesting a will in these particular circumstances.

It is likely to be a very time consuming and expensive business.

You best option is to approach a no win no fee solicitor.

For example I found this one by googling.
##http://www.inheritancedisputes.co.uk/legal-aid-inheritance-disputes.html

However, you also need to do some more googling about contesting wills and read up about coercion and mental capacity.

From my reading it is a lot more complicated than it appears.

I am not sure if legal cover on house insurance covers this type of thing but worth looking into.

NAR

These things are always difficult to prove. You need to talk to his Dr and consultant for their opinions.
Definitely no legal aid available.
Age concern may be able to give good advice.
Extremely expensive to challenge, so think carefully.

AMILLIONDOLLARS

Do your parents jointly own their house (if they have one) on death the house is normally taken out of the deceased estate and reverts automatically to the spouse. If your mother is on the deeds the house reverts to her. Check with Land Registry. Joint bank accounts, the same applies if it is still in your parents name the money yet again reverts to your mother. If we are talking about money solely held by your father then you will have to seek legal help. If life policies are held jointly, your mother should contact all the relevant companies.

Anything held outside joint holdings and solely in your father name constitute your father's estate. Yet again you need legal advice. As your parents were still legally married has some baring.

Good luck

AMD

MaybeItsMaybeline

Hi, thank you everyone for your replies and advice.

I'm just about to read inheritancedisputes.co.uk to work things out.
I remember the doctor tested dad in May and said the toxins were having an effect on him so perhaps requesting his notes and asking Drs and consultants would be a route to pursue. We're also concerned as this woman would not reveal to family members what caused him to decline so quickly as doctors said he had another couple of months. Her story keeps changing from him having a fall to having a seizure. So the drs/consultant/medical notes option is something we will look in to for the answers to other questions too.

I don't think Age Concern can do anything as he was 56 when he died so possibly too young? His illness meant that he was vulnerable and reliant on others but this woman seemed to enjoy isolating him and didn't like us to be there without her watching him - despite multiple siblings having experiences in hospices and elderly care homes.

My Grandma says she thinks he had his wits about him because she saw him talking in full sentences in bed on one of her visits (she lives far away so didn't see him every other day or every week like my siblings and I). However this was a couple of days before he died when he had accepted he was terminal but couldn't remember if he'd made a will. He seemed psychologically unwell because of the stress of his diagnosis combined with the toxins. I know that my siblings and I, people who saw him regularly every week all say that he was not in the right frame of mind and sometimes not understanding things. It's worrying to think she could have been planning this from the moment he was diagnosed as all of this behavior is incredible out of character for dad.

g6jns_2

AMILLIONDOLLARS wrote: »

Do your parents jointly own their house (if they have one) on death the house is normally taken out of the deceased estate and reverts automatically to the spouse. If your mother is on the deeds the house reverts to her. Check with Land Registry. Joint bank accounts, the same applies if it is still in your parents name the money yet again reverts to your mother. If we are talking about money solely held by your father then you will have to seek legal help. If life policies are held jointly, your mother should contact all the relevant companies.

Anything held outside joint holdings and solely in your father name constitute your father's estate. Yet again you need legal advice. As your parents were still legally married has some baring.

Good luck

AMD

The statement about the house is untrue. Please don't add to the woman's grief by posting such rubbish.

AMILLIONDOLLARS

g6jns wrote: »

The statement about the house is untrue. Please don't add to the woman's grief by posting such rubbish.

As a widow I certainly know what I am taking about. If a property is jointly owned by husband and wife, It does indeed revert to the surviving partner and taken out of the deceased estate. So before you start making misleading statement, I suggest you check your facts!

AMD

Mojisola

AMILLIONDOLLARS wrote: »

Do your parents jointly own their house (if they have one) on death the house is normally taken out of the deceased estate and reverts automatically to the spouse. If your mother is on the deeds the house reverts to her. Check with Land Registry. Joint bank accounts, the same applies if it is still in your parents name the money yet again reverts to your mother.

g6jns wrote: »

The statement about the house is untrue. Please don't add to the woman's grief by posting such rubbish.

If the house was owned as "joint tenants", both owners own the whole property. When one dies, the other still owns the whole house. It wouldn't become part of the deceased's estate.

dzug1

Looking at it from a different angle:


I may be over blunt and over-emphasising the points against you, but if you do get to court they will be made:


You are going to face a long and uphill struggle to prove anything untoward - yes you've got suspicions but no evidence. You may gather loads of opinions but that's all there will be.

The fact (or supposition) that he had difficulty in signing is no evidence of his mental capability - only his physical frailty which is not relevant. His solicitor will doubtless say that he knew what he was doing at the time he signed it. (Other times don't matter)


The fact your mother threw him out doesn't help - he went where he perceived he was wanted.


So think long and hard before you do anything.




This case sounds horribly familiar - have you posted it before somewhere?

AMILLIONDOLLARS

g6jns wrote: »

The statement about the house is untrue. Please don't add to the woman's grief by posting such rubbish.

As a widow I certainly know what I am taking about. If a property is jointly owned by husband and wife, It does indeed revert to the surviving partner and taken out of the deceased estate. So before you start making misleading statement, I suggest you check your facts!

the only way that the father can pass on his share of the property is if the deeds are drawn up as Tenancy in Common and he leave it to someone else in his will. Look it up in Land Registry.
If you own your property jointly, either as a married couple, partners or friends, you will have chosen one of two kinds of ownership.
You will own your property as either:

• beneficial joint tenants, or
• tenants in common.

This is the case whether you own the property as freeholders or leaseholders
- See more at: http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/public/guides/public-guide-18#sthash.uZD1yFRT.dpuf



AMD

g6jns_2

AMILLIONDOLLARS wrote: »

As a widow I certainly know what I am taking about. If a property is jointly owned by husband and wife, It does indeed revert to the surviving partner and taken out of the deceased estate. So before you start making misleading statement, I suggest you check your facts!

the only way that the father can pass on his share of the property is if the deeds are drawn up as Tenancy in Common and he leave it to someone else in his will. Look it up in Land Registry.
If you own your property jointly, either as a married couple, partners or friends, you will have chosen one of two kinds of ownership.
You will own your property as either:

• beneficial joint tenants, or
• tenants in common.

This is the case whether you own the property as freeholders or leaseholders
- See more at: http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/public/guides/public-guide-18#sthash.uZD1yFRT.dpuf



AMD

You stated that a house would normally reverted to the surviving spouse. That is misleading because there is no standard way for married couples to hold property in fact so it may or may not revert. This could mislead the unwary.