Can stepmother change fathers will

Lulu0110

My father-in-law spoke with my husband before he died and told him he had left everything to his second wife and on her death all was to be split 3 ways between his 2 children and her one child. They owned a house together. All through the marriage there was great dislike by my father-in-law to her son who he brought up from the age of 5. He is a selfish arrogant loser who has been given and wasted many tens of thousands of pounds in loans from father-in-law (never repaid) and family legacies. and has a broken marriage and no where to live to show for it. He says it is not his fault as he is an alcohlic and drug taker. Within a few weeks he had moved in with her, and transferred his Sky contract to the house which she is paying, and living off her not paying his way. Can she change her will to contradict my f-i-l will? Also can we ask for a copy of her will to hold before she dies? She is a lovely woman but blind to her son. When my Uncle died his second wife said there was no will. My cousin had seen it and been talked through it by his grandfather, who's daughter predeceased him. He got nothing but a few thousands payoff out of "goodwill" of the second wife out of a £500k estate

tea_lover

If he left everything to his wife, if it now hers to do with as she pleases.

Lulu0110

Even if he stated it was hers for her lifetime only then split?

Person_one

Lulu0110 wrote: »

Even if he stated it was hers for her lifetime only then split?

Your father's will is no longer relevant, the money has been dustributed and it is now hers. There is no legal way to specify what the person you leave your money to does with it after you die. If you have wishes you want carried out, you have to just trust the person to follow them, or not leave them the money in the first place.

Lulu0110

In that case, why would a legal professional be paid to draft a will for them that had no standing?

Person_one

Lulu0110 wrote: »

In that case, why would a legal professional be paid to draft a will for them that had no standing?

It's very hard to answer that without having read the will! There are mechanisms that can be put in place such as leaving the house to children but with a 'life interest' for the surviving spouse to be able to live there, or trusts can be set up to provide for the spouse while the children inherit. You say he 'left everything' to his wife though do it doesn't sound like that's the case.

Couples can write 'mirror wills' where they jointly decide what happens when the first, then second of them dies. If the survivor wants to change theirs after the first partner dies though, they have every right to do that.

onomatopoeia99

This is all as I understand it , I don't work in law but have an interest as the whole business of entails is central to Pride & Prejudice and Jane Austen is one of my favourite authors:

Entails (aka fee tails) were almost completely abolished in 1925. It is still possible to create a life interest in an estate in a trust that is left to others on the holder of the life interest's death. So something of the form of leaving the home to a child of a first marriage but stipulating the second spouse can live their until their death.

It very much depends on what the will said and for that you need the will and professional advice, rather than some bod on the Internet that reads too much.

rpc

Lulu0110 wrote: »

Even if he stated it was hers for her lifetime only then split?

You would need to post the wording. A will cannot control what is done with a bequest, but it can leave things to one person while giving someone else a life interest.

If the estate was left to his wife absolutely, then it now belongs to her end of story. Any wishes expressed are not binding. If she was left a life interest but the children were the eventual beneficiaries then that is a different story.

It very much depends on the exact wording of the will and imprecise snippets on a forum will not give you what you are after.

Guest101

Lulu0110 wrote: »

Even if he stated it was hers for her lifetime only then split?

That's not how property ownership works, for goodness sake - THIS is why you get a solicitor to draw up a will.

antrobus

Lulu0110 wrote: »

My father-in-law spoke with my husband before he died and told him he had left everything to his second wife and on her death all was to be split 3 ways between his 2 children and her one child. They owned a house together.....

Get a copy of FIL's will, and see what it says. Take it to a solicitor if necessary.
https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

It is perfectly possible that your FIL did indeed leave his second wife a life interest in his estate with remainder to the three children concerned. The only way to know for certain is to examine the will. Assuming that there is one.

Lulu0110 wrote: »

...Can she change her will to contradict my f-i-l will?

Well yes, but it would have no effect if all she has is a life interest.

Lulu0110 wrote: »

....Also can we ask for a copy of her will to hold before she dies? ...

Well you can ask.

Alter_ego

Lulu0110 wrote: »

They owned a house together.

If they owned it as joint tenants it would automatically go to the survivor regardless of the will.
If as tenants in common they can each will their share as they wish.