Invalid Will? Adopted children..

winnie85

Hello,
Looking for advice for a complex situation that no other site seems to explain on behalf of a friend who has not the savvy for these kind of forums. Im on a hunch that I may be correct but hoping for wisdom of all you members.

My friend was an adopted child into a family that sadly only lasted untill her teenage years due to unfortunate choice of SS to place here ( it was a very unsettled home that ended up in her going into care ).
She outspent the remainer of the time bereft from this family and had assumed that her natural birth identity would re-instate on departure from this family going forward into social care. This was infact incorrect as she found out afew years ago when supplying for a passport that she was infact by law still a member of this family as adoptions are binding and irrevocable by the court of law.
Within afew months of realising this she found out that the former adopted mother had passed away, and a formal social worker of my friend questioned if she might have rights of inheritance in this cirumstance. My friend initially disinterested in pursuing this due to unsettled memories of the whole era with them, later came across information online showing the value of the family home which was sold at a substantial price ( we assume the adopted father decided to sell up after her passing). This got my friend questioning and so with my help filed for probate records which we have received today.
Amazingly a will was made many years before the mother passed HOWEVER as records indicate, the date of the will was made BEFORE the date of the adoption (by a year). Which if I am correct, makes this will invalid? And intestacy rules should apply??

Can this be correct? What are the rules regarding adopted children? If they were adopted after a will was made. I mean the mother made her will before she adopted and therefore of course would not have named the correct beneficiaries as they were not yet known.

The will as it is written shows that she wishes her entire estate to go to her husband. And as the will was made for him to be executor i can assume that it was him who has valued the estate?
The other mystery question is this will is that the estate is worth much less that it should be going by the acheived price of the house sold a year or so after death of the mother. Any ideas what could be the reason for this?

Hope this all doesnt sound too vague! Its a tricky amount of interlaying questions that seems to be playing out here. Advice sincerely appreciated.

Bests, W

swingaloo

What difference will it make? If your friend was estranged from the family why delve into the business of the will. As far as I can see your friend has no claim whatsoever.

Torry_Quine

If they weren't named in the will then they wouldn't inherit. It would be the same if a will left everything to a spouse and then a child was born later.

The exception being that in Scotland you cannot disiherit children

GwylimT

Your will doesn't become void each time you have a child. Unless the person is in scotland they are more than welcome to decide who benefits from their estate.

winnie85

Hi Swingaloo,
I beleive it makes a huge difference in the view of the law but what basis do you deem this is as having no claim. Are you savvy with these lines of enquiry?

Thanks

winnie85

Thanks for the replies so far. Im interested in pressing on with more replies and advice. As im amazed thats how the law works that any subsequent children would be disinherited unless stated. Though possibly true.

molerat

The birth of a child does not invalidate the will which is why it is important to review a will after "life changing" events. The main reason for a challenge is usually if the child is financially dependant on the deceased.

POPPYOSCAR

molerat wrote: »

What was the value of the estate, it can make a difference ?

Also if any property was held as Joint tenants it would automatically become the property of the husband anyway.

winnie85

Background to the nature of this interest in will:
The argument my friends social worker made, was that though the adoption broke down, this was due to the mental instability of the adopted parents ( she was removed from the family for physical abuse as an adolescent) and thus the moral birthright of my friend to belong to a stable and healthy guardianship was circumvented, and thus spent the remainder of her life without moral / financial support and with emotional difficulty from the circumstances that played out. So by some, you could say the interest in this will could go toward financial redress from a devastating cirsumtance to a young persons life. That is of course taking it into another thread all together, but to give a background. Being a friend of this person I am of course working from a moral code, but hence looking for proper and definite financial legal guidance here. Anyone with hardcore experience with these exact kind of cases?

POPPYOSCAR

winnie85 wrote: »

Background to the nature of this interest in will:
The argument my friends social worker made, was that though the adoption broke down, this was due to the mental instability of the adopted parents ( she was removed from the family for physical abuse as an adolescent) and thus the moral birthright of my friend to belong to a stable and healthy guardianship was circumvented, and thus spent the remainder of her life without moral / financial support and with emotional difficulty from the circumstances that played out. So by some, you could say the interest in this will could go toward financial redress from a devastating cirsumtance to a young persons life. That is of course taking it into another thread all together, but to give a background. Being a friend of this person I am of course working from a moral code, but hence looking for proper and definite financial legal guidance here. Anyone with hardcore experience with these exact kind of cases?

I very much doubt a judge would see it that way.


Does your friend have the funds to take it further?

Andypandyboy

If the will included specified children and then the term "or any other issue" which is standard legalese then the child adopted later may be included.