When a will is found after intestacy declared

emilyj

In November 1996, after his death in October 1996, the widow of my ex-husband obtained a grant of intestacy and went to ground with all his assets, giving nothing to his children.
They have now found the will (which their father had told them he had written but had not given them a copy) which left, as he told them, his main house and pension to his widow and the rest of the estate, including another UK house and a house in Spain, to them.
There seems little chance of finding the widow, but they cannot get title to the house in Spain without proof it was left to them in their father's UK will (the Spanish authorities have now decided that his Spanish will (pre-divorce) leaving all his Spanish property to me is overridden by the UK declaration of intestacy).
Where can they find out how to present the will they have found, so they can establish ownership to the Spanish house? Can they do it or must the executors do it (one is his widow).
Any help much appreciated.

securityguy

After twenty years? It's probably out of time. The limit on reopening probate on the discovery of a will is six years for people who do not have an interest in the estate, twelve if they do, and even then there are a variety of "good faith" defences which are going to be hard to disprove at this distance.

There is no time limit if you are claiming there was fraud or breach of trust, but proving that (and the onus would be on you to prove it) after this period of time would be virtually impossible, as many of the principals will be dead or long-retired, and much of the paper work will not exist.

Was there a caveat put in at the time, in 1996, stating that the children believed there to be a will? Is the will valid and, in particular, are one or both of the witnesses alive and willing to state that they witnessed the will? Courts will, not unreasonably, look somewhat askance at paperwork which appears twenty years after the fact.

"the Spanish authorities have now decided that his Spanish will (pre-divorce) leaving all his Spanish property to me is overridden by the UK declaration of intestacy"

And in UK law is overridden by his re-marriage, of course.

getmore4less

You are going to need specialist legal advice on this.

1996 is over 12y and there are some things that kick in then.


With a UK will they stay valid after divorce but the ex becomes an excluded beneficiary, which may be the same in Spain hence their response.

securityguy

getmore4less wrote: »

With a UK will they stay valid after divorce

But not after remarriage, as in this case.

Yorkshireman99

emilyj wrote: »

In November 1996, after his death in October 1996, the widow of my ex-husband obtained a grant of intestacy and went to ground with all his assets, giving nothing to his children.
They have now found the will (which their father had told them he had written but had not given them a copy) which left, as he told them, his main house and pension to his widow and the rest of the estate, including another UK house and a house in Spain, to them.
There seems little chance of finding the widow, but they cannot get title to the house in Spain without proof it was left to them in their father's UK will (the Spanish authorities have now decided that his Spanish will (pre-divorce) leaving all his Spanish property to me is overridden by the UK declaration of intestacy).
Where can they find out how to present the will they have found, so they can establish ownership to the Spanish house? Can they do it or must the executors do it (one is his widow).
Any help much appreciated.

It woiuld need specialist legal advice but after twelve years there are really only two chances i.e.slim and none unless fraud can be proved and even that is very unlikely.

emilyj

Looks like we they need specialist advice.

The children strongly believe this was fraud and think they have the evidence to prove it.

But they think there is no point in pursuing her now.

All they want to do is get the will agreed by probate as a legal document, which passes ownership of the Spanish house to them.

Off to find a solicitor!

Brighty

After 20 years, do you know the spanish house still exists? Widow could have sold it years ago

Keep_pedalling

emilyj wrote: »

Looks like we they need specialist advice.

The children strongly believe this was fraud and think they have the evidence to prove it.

But they think there is no point in pursuing her now.

All they want to do is get the will agreed by probate as a legal document, which passes ownership of the Spanish house to them.

Off to find a solicitor!

You will probably need 2, one for here and one for the Spanish property. Even without the will his widow should not have received everything if, as it sound like, the estate was worth more than £250k.

Spanish property should be covered by a Spanish will, so I doubt the UK one covered that, but again Spanish inheritance law does not give everything to a widow if someone dies intestate, she should only get half and the children the other half.

Yorkshireman99

emilyj wrote: »

Looks like we they need specialist advice.

The children strongly believe this was fraud and think they have the evidence to prove it.

But they think there is no point in pursuing her now.

All they want to do is get the will agreed by probate as a legal document, which passes ownership of the Spanish house to them.

A specialist solicitor who deals with English and Spanish law is what you need. The average High Street solicitor will not have the specialist knowlwdge required.

Off to find a solicitor!

Quite aaprt from the time limits how has the grant under the UK intestacy rules over rididden the Spanish will? Who applied for it? By all means consult a solicitor but it will is 99% certain it will be a waste of money.