deed of variation?

FreeBear

!!!!!! wrote: »

It may also be pertinent to point out that if you challenge a will then costs for the other side actually come out of the estate.

IF the claimant wins, then the costs may be born by the estate, but this is not always assured. It could be that the claimant ends up footing the bill for both sides should they lose.

orwen

FreeBear wrote: »

A "substantive letter" is your side telling the other side to put in writing their grounds for making a claim - A sort of "prove it or shut up" letter. I'd suggest asking for copies of all correspondence to see who has said what before making any decision.

It might also be worth checking legal500.com to see how your firm is rated in the field of contentious probate.

Thanks. This is dreadful. Their letter to me promises to use 'plain language' yet they are already using stock terms that the lay person has no way of knowing the context of. They haven't sent any letters at all to the claimant's solicitor, they are now um-ing and er-ing over varying my parent's will. I never, ever agreed to this course of action. They said they expected the initial phase to last 8-10 weeks, that's if it doesn't go to court. I have already outlined what appears to me to be the folly of appeasing what is a bullying letter, it will I fear open the door to yet more intimidation.

orwen

FreeBear wrote: »

Has probate been granted ?

It has, yes.

System

FreeBear wrote: »

IF the claimant wins, then the costs may be born by the estate, but this is not always assured. It could be that the claimant ends up footing the bill for both sides should they lose.

Please note the probable in the sentence following

orwen

!!!!!! wrote: »

It may also be pertinent to point out that if you challenge a will then costs for the other side actually come out of the estate. Not forgetting that IF you do win then the estate will probably bear the cost of your and the estate's legal bill. So in reality the estate and your claim need to be substantial for you to come away in a winning position if you succeed.

TBH I think that if the estate is less than half million then any court action will empty the estate.

Thanks, but I'm lost here. All I'm doing is defending my late parent's will.

orwen

FreeBear wrote: »

I am in a similar position in that I inherited a sizable chunk of the estate and one sibling has been excluded entirely. On finding out how much he wasn't getting, he said he was going to challenge the will. To date, we have had a few scary letters from his solicitor (one making reference to the Ilott-v-Mitson case). Now that probate has been granted, the clock is ticking for a claim to be filed - There is a world of difference between saying "going to challenge a will" and actually challenging it. The costs of bringing any challenge through the courts is very steep - Budget between £30,000 and £100,000 to lodge a claim.

If your fellow sibling is financially stable and has been left a reasonable chunk of the estate, then his (her) prospects of successfully challenging the will is minimal. By the sounds of it, one of the solicitors is trying to avoid the costs of going to court and suggesting a settlement that incurs the least effort and expense.

You need to find out if this suggestion is being made by the claimant or by your own solicitor - If the former, it would suggest that they know their chances of success in court would be minimal. If the latter, you might want to consider finding another solicitor.

There is a six month time limit in bringing any action from the date probate is granted - How much time do you have left ?

I can confirm that my fellow sibling is financially stable and has been left a reasonable part of the estate and has in no way been 'written out' of it. Probate was granted several months ago. The suggestion for varying the will is coming from my current solicitor, the claimant's solicitor seeks only to undermine the will. On seeking initial advice I was told that there is nothing whatsoever the matter with my parent's will. It is noted that the parent's will differs from one they made five months previously, but in that time their own spouse had passed over, there had been changes in other words, and a new will was anyway necessary. The new will was agreed - drafted - drawn up - approved - and signed at a solicitor's office. It represents the final wishes of my parent.

orwen

FreeBear wrote: »

It might also be worth checking legal500.com to see how your firm is rated in the field of contentious probate.

Thanks, I found this site but all that comes up under the name of my solicitor is the solicitor's name?

FreeBear

orwen wrote: »

They haven't sent any letters at all to the claimant's solicitor, they are now um-ing and er-ing over varying my parent's will.

If they haven't spoken to the claimant's solicitor, then it is premature to be considering any form of settlement.

FreeBear

orwen wrote: »

I can confirm that my fellow sibling is financially stable and has been left a reasonable part of the estate and has in no way been 'written out' of it. Probate was granted several months ago. The suggestion for varying the will is coming from my current solicitor, the claimant's solicitor seeks only to undermine the will.

With probate being granted, it is too late to challenge the validity of the will, so all that the sibling can do is make a claim under the Inheritance Act. Based on what you have said, any claim is likely to fail so they are relying on pester power to get more money.

If it were down to me, I'd simply instruct my solicitor to tell the other side to "go do one" and ignore any further correspondence (unless it was an official document from the court).

orwen

FreeBear wrote: »

If they haven't spoken to the claimant's solicitor, then it is premature to be considering any form of settlement.

Agree, thanks, the whole thing's crazy - surely the 'substantive letter' should come before seeking to vary a will? A will which needs no variation anyway as far as I can see?