Difficult Will

oaktree3

My mum is in hospital with spinal injuries, Dad has terminal cancer, my sister has learning difficulties and currently lives at home.
My parents want to leave me the majority of their estate and a sum to my sister that cannot be means tested.
We have been legally advised that if we do this the local authority can contest the will and the best way to this is to put my sisters money in trust with the solicitor. I would prefer my sisters money to be managed by myself and not involve the solicitor whatsoever as there involvement could lead to legal costs etc in the future. Is what the solicitor saying true.? What is the best way of doing this?

Keep_pedalling

A LA cannot challenge a will as people can leave their assets to who ever thay chose, however I would have to question the motives for doing this. To leave your sister in what would be a state of poverty reliant totally on only on the services that the LA are willing to supply, or on how much of your inherited money you were willing to let her have seems rather cruel to me.

g6jns_2

oaktree3 wrote: »

My mum is in hospital with spinal injuries, Dad has terminal cancer, my sister has learning difficulties and currently lives at home.
My parents want to leave me the majority of their estate and a sum to my sister that cannot be means tested.
We have been legally advised that if we do this the local authority can contest the will and the best way to this is to put my sisters money in trust with the solicitor. I would prefer my sisters money to be managed by myself and not involve the solicitor whatsoever as there involvement could lead to legal costs etc in the future. Is what the solicitor saying true.? What is the best way of doing this?

The local authority cannot contest the will. A trust would the best way but you need legal advice on how to set it up. You need more than one trustee to make ther is one if the other dies. Remember that trustees are limited in what investments can be made and that tax may be payable on trust income.

Tuesday_Tenor

You might want to contact one of the learning difficulties charities, such as Scope, as they would probably have the most experience of trusts for people such as your sister.

If your sister is currently financially dependent on your parents, then she might have grounds for contesting a will which fails to make adequate arrangements for her future needs. Someone with more knowledge will be able to refer to the relevant legislation.

SeniorSam

You definately need to arrange for a STEP solicitor to meet with your parents and be advised on this.

It may be that if your parents were to arrange for their estates to be put into Trust on death, with instructions for the Trust to retain a sum of money to maintain your sister, which can not be means tested as she would not hold the money herself and possibly gift you some money initially, with the balance to you later on. That may be the sort of thing our parents would wish for, but they need to make it clear to the solicitor what they want for your sister's well being, as your needs would seem to be less.

The solicitor can only take instructions from them unless they are mentally incapable and you or someone else has a Power of Attorney.

In view of your Father's condition, the sooner this is arranged the better.

Sam

jackyann

I second Tuesday Tenor's suggestion.
The idea seems to be to ensure that your sister has best use of the money. Mencap are also very used to dealing with these situations and can make suggestions.
A well drawn up Trust can make all the difference, so I advise contacting one of the charities & taking their advice about the best way forward legally asap.

getmore4less

oaktree3 wrote: »

My mum is in hospital with spinal injuries, Dad has terminal cancer, my sister has learning difficulties and currently lives at home.
My parents want to leave me the majority of their estate and a sum to my sister that cannot be means tested.
We have been legally advised that if we do this the local authority can contest the will

A risk worth avoiding, if there is a current dependency then there could be a claim,

and the best way to this is to put my sisters money in trust with the solicitor.

umm trust may be a good choice but the solicitor does not need to be a trustee

I would prefer my sisters money to be managed by myself and not involve the solicitor whatsoever as there involvement could lead to legal costs etc in the future. Is what the solicitor saying true.? What is the best way of doing this?

Definitely worth second opinion if the solicitor has not mentioned that they don't need to be involved in the trust.

(it may be they have more information that is relevant to having a professional involved with the trust)

There is quite a big learning curve here especially if the trust(if created) would qualify for vulnerable person status and you plan to manage it.

theoretica

We have a similar situation in my family - the person in question gets a fair share in wills, but put into a trust which family members administer. In our case, the trusts have more than one beneficiary - on paper - as setting up full discretionary trusts was advised for tax and means testing purposes. It is written for all children/grandchildren of X, but we all know who it is for and don't apply to it!

It is worth finding a solicitor who knows about such trusts.

ostrich_kid

Have a look at Mencap Wills and Trusts information, they hold free seminars around the country every year where a solicitor who specialises in discretionary trusts will be speaking. The events are free and are a great starting point.

Annisele

Where are you in the UK? The rules in England are very different to the rules in Scotland.

Local Authorities can and do challenge wills if no provision has been made for dependents - see Mencap's factsheet.

G6JNS

Annisele wrote: »

Where are you in the UK? The rules in England are very different to the rules in Scotland.

Local Authorities can and do challenge wills if no provision has been made for dependents - see Mencap's factsheet.

The LA can only apply to the court to challenge the will if no provision has been made for a dependent. That does not seem to be the situation in this case.