What does a codicil look like?

Manxman_in_exile

Sorry -but I'm a bit confused by this and your (edit: two) other threads...


Are you saying that when your mum died 10 years ago, her will went to probate but the terms of her will were never followed?


Are you asking whether that could have happened and whether you can do anything about it now?

Woolington

Can I tell from having mum's will if it is a mirror or a joint one? im only assuming it was a mirror because I remember her saying they made them together.

Woolington

Hi Manxman,

mum died Sept 2007. Probate granted Nov 2007.

My stepdads challenge to the will in Sept/Oct 2007 and seems to have been completed a week or two before the end of the two year period, 2009.

Bequest 1: her jewellery i did receive.
Bequest 2: paintings to be returned to the artist weren't as we didn't want to upset stepdad by taking half his paintings off the wall. I told him that when the time came I'd return them. He's since fallen out with the artist and now wants the paintings to be part of his estate and auctioned after he dies.

Ive just thought, do successfully challenged wills also get publicised?

btw my reason for posting is out of curiosity, Im not sure what I want the outcome to be, but also to establish who the paintings do belong to?

Manxman_in_exile

I don't know the answers to your questions - but I'm sure the more knowledgeable posters on here will. In fact I think it's an interesting question myself.


What I'm surprised at is that your stepfather successfully(?) challenged your mum's will two years after probate. Do you know on what grounds - or is that one of your questions?

Woolington

thanks Manxman,

I hadn't thought about finding out WHAT grounds the will was questioned on! I'm going to ring the solicitors that took over the original one - presumably they keep old files?

nom_de_plume

Woolington wrote: »

Hi Manxman,


Bequest 2: paintings to be returned to the artist weren't as we didn't want to upset stepdad by taking half his paintings off the wall. I told him that when the time came I'd return them. He's since fallen out with the artist and now wants the paintings to be part of his estate and auctioned after he dies.

Who actually owns the painting? If they were your mum's and she left them to the artist they presumably still belong to him regardless of where they're kept unless your step-dad successfully challenged the will in that area.

Woolington

Who actually owns the painting?

this isn't clear. They were painted by a friend of both of them, but it was always an agreement with artist and parents that they'd eventually be returned to the artist or his family if he'd died. I think stepdad must have had the same stipulation in his will - tho not sure about this, but then has since scrapped his half of the will and remade another without mentioning the paintings.

The will says 'paintings to be returned to....'

Manxman_in_exile

Well, trying to be helpful...


You've got four different threads going on which tends to be a bit confusing.


To me (and I'm no expert) the question seems to be "what were the terms of your mother's will"? To whom did she leave the property she owned? If the wishes expressed in her will weren't followed, why was that? If she essentially left everything to your stepdad (unless he pre-deceased her) he can do whatever he likes with it. He's not bound by the terms of a mirror will if your mum left everything to him.


You need to understand exactly what your mum's will expressed.


Unfortunately, most of the usual posters around here haven't responded much to your threads. It might have been better to incorporate all of your concerns into one longer, more detailed, post

Woolington

Hi and thanks Manxman,

I did originally write a long complete thread but got no response so I broke it down into individual parts hoping that the answers to the bits would all add up.

For the majority of their marriage my mum and stepdad wrote individual wills leaving everything to the other. Latterly they made a will together - presumably mirror wills, leaving their house in trust to the four children of their marriages - not sure what would happen to the rest of their estate.

Im just trying to post a sentence in her will (but cant copy it) that might have been the get out clause that allowed him to overturn her wishes:

'my Trustees (ie my stepdad and solicitor,) shall have the following powers: to retain or sell any of the assets constituting the Trust Fund'

Does this fit the outcome ie. overturning of the trust fund into his sole ownership, and in this event should the beneficiaries ( we four siblings) have been informed that the Trust Fund was being overturned?

Manxman_in_exile

I'm no expert so don't know.


However, I would have thought that if the trustees had the power to sell trust assets, then they would still have to invest the proceeds of that sale for the benefit of the beneficiaries.


As I said before, you need to understand fully the terms of your mum's will, and if they weren't followed, why not.


If you haven't already done so, might be worth consulting your own solicitor. I understand some will give 30 mins advice for free.


I presume the more knowledgeable posters here don't find this problem interesting. Sorry!