Advice on contesting a will?

TBagpuss

Your mum might be able to make a claim against your dad's estate, depending on circumstances, if she feels it failed to make reasonable provision for her. One of the things which a court would take into account if she made such an application would be what she might have recieved as a divorce settlement.

If you wished to challenge the will you would have to satisfy a court that your dad did not have capacity when he made the will - the fact that he was physically frail and struggled to sign it is not in itself evidence as to capacity.

The solicitor may have made enquiries with the doctor at the time the will was made, especially if it was made as an emergency at the hospital - you don't have an automatic right to see the solicitor's notes, but the hospital may be able to tell you (or your mum) whether any enquiries were made.

Legal Aid is not available but you / your mum may be able to see a solciitor for an initial discussion either free or for a fixed fee, to discuss the way forward.

MaybeItsMaybeline

Hello, thank you again everyone for your replies. Never posted this on a forum before and doubt my siblings have either. Sad if this has happened to other people.

My parents did have a house once but sold it and moved in to a rented property together with me (I've just finished university and had been living between their house and my uni accommodation) to have a decent amount of savings and downsize ready for retirement. When they separated they divided the house money in half and had twenty thousand pounds each. My dad took most of the furniture which now resides in this woman's new house he paid for. They moved house on the day he died.

My parents were together for 30 years and my mum was solely dependent on my dad whose name was on everything. However my mum's name was included on the house which they shared (not the mortgage). Neither party had no plans to get divorced when they separated even when dad received a terminal diagnosis. Which again, is why this sudden engagement is odd. I did some research and have read that co-habitees only qualify for inheritance if they've been living together for two years. My mum gave up work and was a housewife throughout their marriage. She received no financial support upon the separation and has had to live off her savings from the house sale and her part time job.

It would be interesting to chase up from doctors if there had been any inquiries from a solicitor. I definitely know he signed on the day he was rushed to hospital. However no immediately family was notified that doctors thought he would die on that day which is why I found it odd that the solicitor was called in. Especially since I rang him that lunch time and he made no mention of seeing his solicitor, he just kept talking about how he was going on holiday next week (he'd been saying this every week for three months) and how much he hated being in hospital.

It was when we visited him on father's day that he said he was informed that he'd made a will but that he couldn't remember doing any of it. So I'm not really sure what evidence apart from doctors/consultant's notes and opinions from close family can really be provided when contesting on the grounds of mental capacity?

Crabapple

You need to get some legal advice and will need medical evidence to support any claim that your father did not know what he was doing when he made this new Will. Like others have said, there is no legal aid for this type of claim, costs come from the estate (if won) but you might well have to pay money on account to get a solicitor to take the case.

If your mother was financially dependent on him she may have a much easier time making a claim for reasonable provision from the estate. If they already divided their assets though, this could be hard to show as she presumably felt this was a reasonable amount from their joint monies and assumed she could live on it.

There is no automatic right for a spouse to inherit from an estate except if there is no Will. If a Will exists it can leave money to anyone for any reason provided that the testator is mentally competent. It's hard to prove that they weren't, so you need some advice from a good lawyer who specialises in contentious probate.

rpc

There are (at least) three options:

1 - contest the will, get a court to either void it or vary it. Expensive, evidence needed. A claim as a financial dependent would be easier than claiming incapacity or undue influence.

2 - let it be.

3 - persuade OW that you are serious but this would cost everyone a lot of time and money to contest/defend the will. Perhaps you could agree to settle, avoid large legal fees and agree a deed of variation.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4611063 is a good read about how much bother contesting a will can cause (and also how long, drawn out and expensive the process can be).

freda11

don't bother wasting your money, I am still involved in a long drawn out battle (as per rpc link) and still no further forward. We are now getting the money together to issue court proceedings ourselves to get the caveat lifted. The other side are doing nothing but being vexatious, lets see how he feels when he is given our costs what we want back including all court fees etc! They guys on here have been so helpful and kept me sane!! But my sanity is beginning to wane!