Believe Relative's Will Changed Illegally

darenmatthews

I have now found an archived property listing from Zoopla - apparently his house was listed for sale on 1st Mar 2017. But I can find no record of this on the Land Registry and no details of the probate. This is most confusing and a little unsettling.

Grandmama

It is apparent that your uncle was an uncle only by marriage to your mother's sister. If when she died the house became his alone then he could leave it to anybody he wishes. Also be may have had siblings or other family members who were blood relatives. If he had died intestate, as non blood relatives unfortunately your side of the family would not inherit.

darenmatthews

*** UPDATE ***

My sister has just emailed me a copy of my uncle's Will, I am not sure where she managed to find this. I will call her tonight.

It appears that on the 8th May 2017 his will was amended. The sole beneficiary was a neighbour who lived a few houses away.

I accept that it is entirely up to an individual how to deal with their affairs but I also know that my uncle was a very disturbed man at that time. This reeks of manipulation and perhaps coercion.

That being said I accept that there is perhaps little that we can do at this stage apart from accept the situation. I feel sorry for my mother who is and has always been upset that her sisters belongings and memorabilia have been lost.

I would like to thank everyone who has offered advice on this forum.

PasturesNew

darenmatthews wrote: »

.... sole beneficiary was a neighbour who lived a few houses away.


I feel sorry for my mother who is and has always been upset that her sisters belongings and memorabilia have been lost.

I can understand too, that it's just about her sister's stuff
So sorry that it's probably all gone.

We had a similar will change in our family; sister died first, husband then left the lot to a chap a few doors along. Probably worth close to £1million in today's values.... it was queried/questioned by ferocious and outraged local relatives (slightly abroad stuff with strange laws) .... people "with money and legal contacts", but it seemed it was water tight (have to trust them on that one as I know they'd not have just laid down and taken it).

"Coming our way", instead of a random stranger, it'd have been split 3 ways ... and, to me, 3 ways, so there's £60k (values then) I could've used when it got doled out more recently.

Dox

darenmatthews wrote: »

I accept that it is entirely up to an individual how to deal with their affairs but I also know that my uncle was a very disturbed man at that time. This reeks of manipulation and perhaps coercion.

Or possibly just a very disturbed man who was looking for someone - anyone - except relatives to whom he could leave his possessions. I don't see how you could prove otherwise, given his erratic behaviour.

Sounds as if the house has never been registered at the Land Registry and quite possibly has not yet been sold. It's a very long shot but might be worth asking the individual who inherited it (either directly or via one of the local neighbours, if you know any of them well enough to ask) whether any of the personal effects are still there (stuck in the loft, for example) as your elderly mother would much appreciate them if so.

marliepanda

When exactly did you stop contacting your uncle? You say you didnt realise he had died for over a year, but surely Contact must have stopped well before then, as otherwise a sudden lack of contact when he died would have flagged up an issue.

Perhaps in that time you didnt contact or phone him the support network you set up with another neighbour (who couldnt handle it) fell to another neighbour who supported him to the extend that your uncle wanted him to be compensated.

I appreciate it is stressful, my grandad had dementia, forgot who we were, called ya some quite nasty names, and on one occasion almost head butted my mother. We didnt cut off contact because he was family and we knew he couldnt help it. We certainly wouldnt have cut off contact sufficiently for him to have been dead and buried a year before we even realised something was wrong...

Brynsam

marliepanda wrote: »

When exactly did you stop contacting your uncle? You say you didnt realise he had died for over a year, but surely Contact must have stopped well before then, as otherwise a sudden lack of contact when he died would have flagged up an issue.

Perhaps in that time you didnt contact or phone him the support network you set up with another neighbour (who couldnt handle it) fell to another neighbour who supported him to the extend that your uncle wanted him to be compensated.

I appreciate it is stressful, my grandad had dementia, forgot who we were, called ya some quite nasty names, and on one occasion almost head butted my mother. We didnt cut off contact because he was family and we knew he couldnt help it. We certainly wouldnt have cut off contact sufficiently for him to have been dead and buried a year before we even realised something was wrong...

OP said the following: 'He lived in Wales and had stopped taking our calls or replying to letters. ' Not much you can do about that if someone lives a fair distance away and rebuffs all attempts at contact. Contact is a two-way thing. If someone doesn't respond, and/or makes it clear they don't want to hear from you, there must come a time when you respect their wishes or simply accept you can't help.

Middlestitch

marliepanda wrote: »

When exactly did you stop contacting your uncle? You say you didnt realise he had died for over a year, but surely Contact must have stopped well before then, as otherwise a sudden lack of contact when he died would have flagged up an issue.

Perhaps in that time you didnt contact or phone him the support network you set up with another neighbour (who couldnt handle it) fell to another neighbour who supported him to the extend that your uncle wanted him to be compensated.

I appreciate it is stressful, my grandad had dementia, forgot who we were, called ya some quite nasty names, and on one occasion almost head butted my mother. We didnt cut off contact because he was family and we knew he couldnt help it. We certainly wouldnt have cut off contact sufficiently for him to have been dead and buried a year before we even realised something was wrong...

Not sure how this helps OP?

marliepanda

Brynsam wrote: »

OP said the following: 'He lived in Wales and had stopped taking our calls or replying to letters. ' Not much you can do about that if someone lives a fair distance away and rebuffs all attempts at contact. Contact is a two-way thing. If someone doesn't respond, and/or makes it clear they don't want to hear from you, there must come a time when you respect their wishes or simply accept you can't help.

Agreed, therefore why are people ‘happy’ for contact to stop, stop attempting to physically visit but become ‘unhappy’ when they don’t get their inheritance.

marliepanda

Brynsam wrote: »

OP said the following: 'He lived in Wales and had stopped taking our calls or replying to letters. ' Not much you can do about that if someone lives a fair distance away and rebuffs all attempts at contact. Contact is a two-way thing. If someone doesn't respond, and/or makes it clear they don't want to hear from you, there must come a time when you respect their wishes or simply accept you can't help.

Agreed, therefore why are people ‘happy’ for contact to stop, stop attempting to physically visit but become ‘unhappy’ when they don’t get their inheritance.

The beneficiary may have struck up a marvellous relationship with the uncle in his final years or months. Yet the response is that he must have manipulated him and coerced him into changing his will... this man that was angry at the world and wouldn’t see his family was someone made to do this...