Can they contest the Will?

Taffery

Hello,
A number of months back my Grandmother sadly passed away. My cousin is dealing with the probate and estate (she was named executor).
The will has left money to two of my grandmothers children A and B but not the third C.
To my knowledge C inherited the family business when the deceased was still alive (early inheritance?) And at this point may have been taken out of the will.
Now my grandmother is deceased, as are her children A and B (who remain in the will) child C is contesting the will, having been left out, but on the grounds of not in sound mind when written -she had dementia in the last stages. However, it also turns out there were pervious wills in which child C was left out also.
( To quote "...was never in any of the wills...).

Does child C have a chance to succeed in contesting the will?

Yorkshireman99

Taffery wrote: »

Hello,
A number of months back my Grandmother sadly passed away. My cousin is dealing with the probate and estate (she was named executor).
The will has left money to two of my grandmothers children A and B but not the third C.
To my knowledge C inherited the family business when the deceased was still alive (early inheritance?) And at this point may have been taken out of the will.
Now my grandmother is deceased, as are her children A and B (who remain in the will) child C is contesting the will, having been left out, but on the grounds of not in sound mind when written -she had dementia in the last stages. However, it also turns out there were pervious wills in which child C was left out also.
( To quote "...was never in any of the wills...).

Does child C have a chance to succeed in contesting the will?

To do so child C would have to prove that the deceased lacked mental capacity when she made the will. That is likely to be difficult, and expensive with no certainty of success.

Taffery

If proven that there was a lacking of mental capacity for the final will, are previous will's then tsken on to account or are all void as they were superseded?
Can the lack of inheritance in previous will be used as evidence?

Yorkshireman99

Taffery wrote: »

If proven that there was a lacking of mental capacity for the final will, are previous will's then tsken on to account or are all void as they were superseded?
Can the lack of inheritance in previous will be used as evidence?

The only issue seems to be if your grandmother had legal capacity when she made the will. If not, and a previous valid will still exists that could be used for probate. If the latest will is invalid and there are no earlier valid wills. the the laws of intestacy would apply.

duchy

C could spend thousands going to court claiming their mother had dementia at the date the will was made (obviously you know if this was the case or not) and have it declared void - however if there are other earlier wills still in physical existence (eg not destroyed but kept) then the latest one would become the legal will -however if earlier wills were destroyed then C probably would have a claim as one of the 3 children if they are indeed the nearest blood relatives (and no husband is alive)

So key points are - Did grandma have legal mental capacity when she made the will (mild Alzheimers may not mean she didn't -legal mental capacity is a legal not a medical definition so you can still have legal mental capacity with mild Alzheimers in some cases)

Are the previous wills still in existence or were they destroyed ?

The wording of the will (if valid) is important as A & B are deceased as to whether their children will inherit.

Really you need to see a solicitor

Yorkshireman99

duchy wrote: »

C could spend thousands going to court claiming their mother had dementia at the date the will was made (obviously you know if this was the case or not) and have it declared void - however if there are other earlier wills still in physical existence (eg not destroyed but kept) then the latest one would become the legal will -however if earlier wills were destroyed then C probably would have a claim as one of the 3 children if they are indeed the nearest blood relatives (and no husband is alive)

So key points are - Did grandma have legal mental capacity when she made the will (mild Alzheimers may not mean she didn't -legal mental capacity is a legal not a medical definition so you can still have legal mental capacity with mild Alzheimers in some cases)

Are the previous wills still in existence or were they destroyed ?

The wording of the will (if valid) is important as A & B are deceased as to whether their children will inherit.

Really you need to see a solicitor

Unless the grandchildren were financially depended then they would be unlikely to have a claim.