Believe Relative's Will Changed Illegally

darenmatthews

I wonder if anyone can offer some advice? My uncle had a will which listed my mother as the main beneficiary. My uncle was married to my mothers sister. Over the years my uncle's health and mental state deteriorated. He was often confused and angry at the World.

We recently discovered that he had passed away over a year ago. He lived in Wales and had stopped taking our calls or replying to letters. Even though my mother was the main contact for the Doctor, solicitor and others she was never made aware of his death.

We then discovered that all of his assets had been liquidated and his house sold off. The neighbours told us that another person in his street has taken over the execution of the will and had personally benefitted.

I have read many articles on the Internet but none really fitted my mothers curcumstances and so we do not really know what our rights are of how to go about investigating this apparent change of will (if indeed there was one). My uncle was in no fit state to make the decision himself and the fact that the solicitors that my mother was supposed to be contacted by are being rather recitent gives us cause for concern.

Can anyone suggest anything which might help us to determine whether the original will was amended and if so was it done legally?

Any help would be appreciated!

seven-day-weekend

You can order a copy of the will:
https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

Mojisola

darenmatthews wrote: »

Over the years my uncle's health and mental state deteriorated. He was often confused and angry at the World.

We recently discovered that he had passed away over a year ago. He lived in Wales and had stopped taking our calls or replying to letters. Even though my mother was the main contact for the Doctor, solicitor and others she was never made aware of his death.

My uncle was in no fit state to make the decision himself and the fact that the solicitors that my mother was supposed to be contacted by are being rather recitent gives us cause for concern.

As your uncle wasn't able to make decisions for himself and his representative (your mother) hadn't had any contact with him for ages, who was looking after him?

If it was the council, why didn't your mother keep in contact with them to get updates on his welfare? Why didn't anyone from the family go to see him/talk to social workers/his GP/his solicitor?

darenmatthews

Mojisola wrote: »

As your uncle wasn't able to make decisions for himself and his representative (your mother) hadn't had any contact with him for ages, who was looking after him?

If it was the council, why didn't your mother keep in contact with them to get updates on his welfare? Why didn't anyone from the family go to see him/talk to social workers/his GP/his solicitor?

Mojisola you certainly seem to see bad in people even when none exists. It would be nice if you had taken some time to offer advice, not criticism.

The fact is that my mother, sister and myself regularly telephoned, wrote and visited him. When he deteriorated he began not to recognise us. He started to be abusive towards anyone (at all) that visited his home. He even punched one person who attended to tidy up his garden. This was especially painful for my mother who had to try to understand this behaviour.

I tried to setup a support network for him comprising his immediate neighbour and that at least gave me some insight into his welfare. This became difficult for the neighbour who was sometimes attacked when he was particularly bad.

I won't expand upon any more detail but suffice to say this has been arduous for many people.

My question remains the same though. Do you have any actual advice to offer?

darenmatthews

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

You can order a copy of the will:
https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

Thank you for the good advice. I did actually search for my Uncle's name on this Government website but it was not listed, which I found odd.

Yorkshireman99

darenmatthews wrote: »

Thank you for the good advice. I did actually search for my Uncle's name on this Government website but it was not listed, which I found odd.

If the will is not on the list then probate has not been obtained. You willhave to start asking questions as the house cannot be sold without probate.

marliepanda

Perhaps an obvious question but, is your mothers sister already passed?

SevenOfNine

Mojisola wrote: »

As your uncle wasn't able to make decisions for himself and his representative (your mother) hadn't had any contact with him for ages, who was looking after him?

If it was the council, why didn't your mother keep in contact with them to get updates on his welfare? Why didn't anyone from the family go to see him/talk to social workers/his GP/his solicitor?

Your response to this post was somewhat unfair OP. In case you hadn't noticed them, I've highlighted the question marks. It seems to me that Mojisola was merely trying to get a better overall picture by asking such questions before offering their usual helpful advice, not subjecting you to criticism!

Did this "person in the street" have PoA perhaps? That may explain why you were not contacted by GP etc prior to his death. Have you checked with his local authority's adult social care, to see if you was registered with them & allocated a social worker (it sounds as if he should have been)? They may be able to shed some light on things.

Can you ask his local registry office who registered the death or maybe obtain a copy of the death cert?

I agree, it's very odd that you can find no trace of a will having gone to probate, or indeed Letters of Administration (in case someone didn't like what was in the original will & shoved it in the shredder). Without either of those it would be difficult, if not impossible, to sell a house with Uncle as sole owner. I wonder if it might be beneficial to obtain a copy of the deeds from Land Registry, it's only a few pounds & done on-line, so you can see the ownership history (I believe, but happy to be corrected on that if someone knows for sure).

Afraid you'll be putting together all the bits of a jigsaw puzzle, after which I'd see a solicitor. Presume mum doesn't have a copy of the will?

Mojisola

darenmatthews wrote: »

We recently discovered that he had passed away over a year ago.

He lived in Wales and had stopped taking our calls or replying to letters. Even though my mother was the main contact for the Doctor, solicitor and others she was never made aware of his death.

darenmatthews wrote: »

Mojisola you certainly seem to see bad in people even when none exists. It would be nice if you had taken some time to offer advice, not criticism.

The fact is that my mother, sister and myself regularly telephoned, wrote and visited him. When he deteriorated he began not to recognise us. He started to be abusive towards anyone (at all) that visited his home. He even punched one person who attended to tidy up his garden. This was especially painful for my mother who had to try to understand this behaviour.

I tried to setup a support network for him comprising his immediate neighbour and that at least gave me some insight into his welfare. This became difficult for the neighbour who was sometimes attacked when he was particularly bad.

Sorry you took my reply the way you did - all you said in your first post was that your uncle had cut off contact with your family and the fact that you didn't know he had died a year suggested that none of you had any contact with him or any of his care providers for twelve months or more.

I looked after my parents and had POA for them but would never have expected any of the authorities to chase me up to tell me what was happening to them - it was my responsibility to make sure I contacted them if I had any concerns.

When people change as they age, it can be very difficult to help them and very hard to cope with the emotions that arise when you try.

nom_de_plume

Is it possible he ended up in supported care and his house had to be sold to meet some of the costs?

-taff

Or that he changed the house owner by signing it over to someone else?