Challenging Fathers will Advice

Jamesharg81

Good afternoon this is about a Will my father supposedly signed, I know he was not in any fit state to sign the will, he had an aggressive brain tumour, about one month before he passed my step mother had a new will made for him, I know he was in no position to call or visit a solicitor himself.

I am 99% confident he left his estate to me and my brother equally in a will before this but the new will as best I can gather left everything to his wife due to the wording and use of the word 'absolutely' under gift of residue.

The question is can this be challenged? do we have grounds? It will not be hard to show he was not compos mentis at the time or in the months leading to his passing, there is know way he understood the document if it was him who signed it, further to this it was witnessed by 2 members of the same family on his wife/stepmothers side!

Thank you in advance

getmore4less

Put a caveats to stop probate, if already granted engage a solicitor ASAP this is not a DIY.

Jamesharg81

He passed in 2013, we understood a will was in place and he had asked for a non disturbance so his wife could remain in the property as ling she wanted or lived & our share would be granted after/when she sold it.

She stopped all communication about a year ago and we only just found out we could get the will form the on-line .gov service and now in deep shock.

Other issues are cost me and my brother might be able to raise a £1000 maybe £1500 in the next few months, but i have a feeling that is insufficient!!

Keep_pedalling

Challenging the will could be expensive, but I think you need to get some paid for professional advice to see what your chances are. A new will drawn up this close to death is highly suspicious especially considering his medical condition.

Was this will drawn up and witnessed by a solicitor?

Where abouts in the UK are you?

Jamesharg81

The will looks to be drawn up by a solicitor, my dads solicitor is named in the document it is signed on the last page by my father (apparently) and both the witness only

there are signatures on the front at the top, I assumed these may be signatures from the solicitor after it was returned/complete but there is no details with those signatures!

If a solicitor was present during the signing I would be shocked as I can not see how person in such a high position would allow a person in my fathers condition to sign anything!!

going to have to find the money I think the amount of the estate is in the six figure range.


I am in England, Bedfordshire

TonyMMM

Jamesharg81 wrote: »

If a solicitor was present during the signing I would be shocked as I can not see how person in such a high position would allow a person in my fathers condition to sign anything!!

The solicitor doesn't have to be present when the will was signed - the witnesses are the ones who need to see the testator sign, and can give evidence of it if necessary. The witnesses can be family members or completely unrelated, just not a beneficiary.

You do need urgent professional advice on this - If you believe it is not his signature then you are alleging a serious criminal offence. If he did sign the will then ultimately the case may hinge on medical evidence/opinion about your father's mental capacity at the time.

FreeBear

Jamesharg81 wrote: »

He passed in 2013, we understood a will was in place and he had asked for a non disturbance so his wife could remain in the property as ling she wanted or lived & our share would be granted after/when she sold it.

Other issues are cost me and my brother might be able to raise a £1000 maybe £1500 in the next few months, but i have a feeling that is insufficient!!

When was probate granted ?

To be honest, if probate was granted shortly after the death (e.g. within six months), I fear you have left it too late to challenge the validity. You might be able to convince a judge to have a look at the case even if it is out of time, but not for £1000-£1500. A realistic budget would be something in the order of £50,000-£200,000.

You MUST seek qualified legal advice from a solicitor well versed in such matters - Your local two bob firm won't have the expertise or the resources. I'd suggest looking for a top tier Legal 500 firm, but it isn't going to be cheap even for a consultation.

Keep_pedalling

FreeBear wrote: »

When was probate granted ?

To be honest, if probate was granted shortly after the death (e.g. within six months), I fear you have left it too late to challenge the validity. You might be able to convince a judge to have a look at the case even if it is out of time, but not for £1000-£1500. A realistic budget would be something in the order of £50,000-£200,000.

You MUST seek qualified legal advice from a solicitor well versed in such matters - Your local two bob firm won't have the expertise or the resources. I'd suggest looking for a top tier Legal 500 firm, but it isn't going to be cheap even for a consultation.

There is no time limit in the case of fraud, but proving it is the difficult and expensive part.

POPPYOSCAR

Jamesharg81 wrote: »

Good afternoon this is about a Will my father supposedly signed, I know he was not in any fit state to sign the will, he had an aggressive brain tumour, about one month before he passed my step mother had a new will made for him, I know he was in no position to call or visit a solicitor himself.

I am 99% confident he left his estate to me and my brother equally in a will before this but the new will as best I can gather left everything to his wife due to the wording and use of the word 'absolutely' under gift of residue.

The question is can this be challenged? do we have grounds? It will not be hard to show he was not compos mentis at the time or in the months leading to his passing, there is know way he understood the document if it was him who signed it, further to this it was witnessed by 2 members of the same family on his wife/stepmothers side!

Thank you in advance

How do you know this? Why are you 99% and not 100%.


Where is the previous will?

konark

There does seem to be primae facie evidence that the will was not legit. The witnesses being related to your step-mum is a bit suspicious as is the will being made a month before death. You need to find out if a solicitor was involved at the time the will was made, I would think not as they usually get their secretary to be a witness. Is it really your father's signature, do you have other examples of it?

Your case would hinge on medical opinion about the capacity of your father a month before death. Your problem is that a lot of time has elapsed since he passed away, three months after the death doctors would have remembered what condition your father was in but 3 years later memories can fade.

Yorkshireman99

Jamesharg81 wrote: »

Good afternoon this is about a Will my father supposedly signed, I know he was not in any fit state to sign the will, he had an aggressive brain tumour, about one month before he passed my step mother had a new will made for him, I know he was in no position to call or visit a solicitor himself.

I am 99% confident he left his estate to me and my brother equally in a will before this but the new will as best I can gather left everything to his wife due to the wording and use of the word 'absolutely' under gift of residue.

The question is can this be challenged? do we have grounds? It will not be hard to show he was not compos mentis at the time or in the months leading to his passing, there is know way he understood the document if it was him who signed it, further to this it was witnessed by 2 members of the same family on his wife/stepmothers side!

Thank you in advance

The only grounds, AFAIK, for challenging the will more than six months after the grant of probate is fraud. Unless the two witness's were beneficiaries then that would not have invalidated the will. Therefore it seems vey unlikely you have a case.