16 year old Will

Karenee

Could you offer me advice please?

I don't want to upset other family members at this stage unless I know I have a valid argument, hence my question.

My Father died 16 years ago, leaving his estate to my Mother, stating in his Will that upon her death, it should be divided between myself and my three younger brothers.

She died last month and has left everything to my youngest brother and then upon his death, everything should go to charity. My youngest brother has always lived at home (now aged 55) and we have no grievance that he should remain in the house. However, we are upset that ultimately, my Mother has totally disregarded my Father's wishes as stated in his Will.

Is there any way this situation can be amended and my Father's wishes adhered to?

Thanking you in anticipation.

loubel

You need to be clear about what your Dad's Will said. Did it create a trust, with your mum only inheriting the use/benefit of his estate/assets for her life? Or did he leave everything to your mum with a substitute clause for if mum died before him?

WestonDave

You'd need specialist advice as to whether your Father created a "life interest" in his estate in favour of your mother, or bequeathed his estate to her with an expression of wishes that it be shared later. The latter would mean the assets became hers outright and the wishes could be ignored and overridden by her own will. If the former applied then you would in effect take back your father's assets from your mother's estate and share them according to his will.

RAS

I suggest that you get hold of your father's will from the Probate Registry; assuming England or Wales.

That will explain the exact term under which your mother inherited. There are some situations where the surviving spouse can do what they want and decide the opposite to the first donor.

Karenee

Thank you for your swift responses.

Dave, I think it is probably the latter, so I therefore need to do as RAS and loubel suggest and contact the Registry to determine that.

Thanks again.

g6jns_2

Karenee wrote: »

Thank you for your swift responses.

Dave, I think it is probably the latter, so I therefore need to do as RAS and loubel suggest and contact the Registry to determine that.

Thanks again.

Make sure you go to the Probate Office of the High Court site. There are a number of other lookalikes that charge a fat extra fee.

Mojisola

g6jns wrote: »

Make sure you go to the Probate Office of the High Court site. There are a number of other lookalikes that charge a fat extra fee.

http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/pa001s-eng.pdf

DaveTheMus

chances are you'll die before your youngest brother so it won't matter

Mojisola

Karenee wrote: »

My Father died 16 years ago, leaving his estate to my Mother, stating in his Will that upon her death, it should be divided between myself and my three younger brothers.

She died last month and has left everything to my youngest brother and then upon his death, everything should go to charity.

DaveTheMus wrote: »

chances are you'll die before your youngest brother so it won't matter

The problem is what's happening now, not after the brother's death.

Karenee

Sad that you should think this way, but you've missed the point "Dave The Mus" - It's not about money.

securityguy

Would these all be DIY wills?

You can only leave stuff to person X, and then upon their death to person Y, by establishing a trust which gives the use of the asset to X but holds ownership so as to pass it ultimately to Y. That trust will have trustees.

You can't just leave stuff absolutely to X, with instructions that they should leave it to Y upon their death. Well, you can, but you're hoping X does what you want, and they are under no legal obligation to do so. Even were X under a legal obligation to write their will in favour of Y, which they aren't, the only person who could enforce that would be the original testator, and they are (of course) long dead in this situation.

The obvious example of where this would go wrong without anyone doing anything explicitly to undermine the will would be "I leave everything to my son Albert, on the understanding that when he dies he leaves it all to his lovely daughter Bess, and not to his good-for-nothing son Charlie". Albert inherits, and then dies intestate. Albert's assets are then divided according to the rules of intestacy, and Charlie gets his share just the same as Bess.

If you want a trust, set one up in your will.