problem with step mother and my late fathers will

lovemelovemyshoes

I hope someone can give me so advice...... my fathersuddenly passed away nearly 5 months ago at the age of 54 and my step mother has told me and my brother that he has left everything to her and upon her death then everything will be shared with her children too. We have asked for a copy of the will but she has stopped speaking to us both and blocked all contact. I have managed to track down where the will was made but the solicitors will not let us have a copy neither will they tell us who the executors are. His estate was not large so its not about the money but he did have some personal items that we would of liked to have as a keepsake none are of any great value one being a pit lamp from my grandad that was supposed to be passed down to my brother but she has refused to do this too. It isn't going to probate so I can't obtain a copy of the will from there so where do i go now ? i have tried every avenue possible but i still cant get any closer to obtaining a copy. If it was his wish to leave everything to her then so be it. We do know that there is a trust mentioned on the land registry documents but can't find anything else out. We do feel that she is not really telling us the 100% truth and is not really a nice person we really only tried to get along with her for the sake of our father. Since his death she booked a holiday in between him dying and being buried and she went on it the day after his funeral and has had several in the past 5 months. Is there anything else i can do to obtain a copy and then we can close this chapter in our lives. ty

Loopyloopz

Sorry for your loss. And hope you are able to get the sentimental items you are wanting. I had a similar issue with my mums partner when she passed away.

You can get a copy from the gov.com website. I think it isn’t available until after probate is granted, then the will is public record. The copy costs £10. I’m not able to post links on here yet, but if you search copy of will it should come up. It’s gov. Uk probate. Hope that helps!

Keep_pedalling

You have no right to see the will until probate is granted, at which point it becomes a public document. With small estates however that have no property or any other assets requiring probate to release them, the will will never become public.

If you want some keepsakes from your father then the last thing you need is to go in heavy handed, although it might be a bit late for that.

POPPYOSCAR

I cannot see the relevance of when and/or how many holidays she has had.

If I were you I would ask her nicely if you can perhaps have some things of his to remember him by.

Perhaps write her a letter and send it signed for.

lovemelovemyshoes

ty for your replies we have been told that it wont be going to probate and there are a few things we can't understand... why make a will leaving everything to his second wife when she would of had everything anyway in the event of there not being a will so it seems he wasted money getting one in the first place and secondly on the land registry docs its states that there is a trust attached to the property but we cannot find out what it is. Is his share protected ? and if so what can she do about this. I cannot believe that our father would leave us out of the will even if it was just that we were left sentimental items. Did he make the will because of the trust attached to the house? we have asked for some personal things but we believe she has cleared the house and given away items . ty

74jax

If your dad wanted the pit lamp to go to a particular person and had a will in place then the person to get the lamp would be named. I would go back to the solicitor maybe putting in writing you believe someone is named in the will and not being given what is rightfully theirs.

Re the holidays, I don't understand this part.

Re the trust, is it in trust for you do you mean?

74jax

lovemelovemyshoes wrote: »

ty for your replies we have been told that it wont be going to probate and there are a few things we can't understand... why make a will leaving everything to his second wife when she would of had everything anyway in the event of there not being a will so it seems he wasted money getting one in the first place and secondly on the land registry docs its states that there is a trust attached to the property but we cannot find out what it is. Is his share protected ? and if so what can she do about this. I cannot believe that our father would leave us out of the will even if it was just that we were left sentimental items. Did he make the will because of the trust attached to the house? we have asked for some personal things but we believe she has cleared the house and given away items . ty

Settling an estate without a will is more stressful and takes much longer. Access to money etc is more time consuming etc. Writing a will is never a waste of money. He was thinking of his wife and trying to make it easier to get everything together.

lovemelovemyshoes

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

I cannot see the relevance of when and/or how many holidays she has had.

If I were you I would ask her nicely if you can perhaps have some things of his to remember him by.

Perhaps write her a letter and send it signed for.

we have asked for 1 item (my grandads pit lamp) but this was refused.

lovemelovemyshoes

74jax wrote: »

Settling an estate without a will is more stressful and takes much longer. Access to money etc is more time consuming etc. Writing a will is never a waste of money. He was thinking of his wife and trying to make it easier to get everything together.

we totally understand him thinking of his wife and understand his need to see that she is left comfortable in the event of his death but we cannot understand what the trust was on the property and we believe that this was done to protect his money he put into the property for us otherwise why do it in the first place.

lovemelovemyshoes

74jax wrote: »

If your dad wanted the pit lamp to go to a particular person and had a will in place then the person to get the lamp would be named. I would go back to the solicitor maybe putting in writing you believe someone is named in the will and not being given what is rightfully theirs.

Re the holidays, I don't understand this part.

Re the trust, is it in trust for you do you mean?

we believe that part of the house is in trust for us otherwise why put a trust onto the property if he left her everything in the first place. The trust has been put there for a reason its just that we cannot find out what the reason is.

Keep_pedalling

lovemelovemyshoes wrote: »

ty for your replies we have been told that it wont be going to probate and there are a few things we can't understand... why make a will leaving everything to his second wife when she would of had everything anyway in the event of there not being a will so it seems he wasted money getting one in the first place and secondly on the land registry docs its states that there is a trust attached to the property but we cannot find out what it is. Is his share protected ? and if so what can she do about this. I cannot believe that our father would leave us out of the will even if it was just that we were left sentimental items. Did he make the will because of the trust attached to the house? we have asked for some personal things but we believe she has cleared the house and given away items . ty

Even if a will leaves everything as an interstate estate would have done, there are still good reasons to make a will, the main one being what happens if your spouse dies first.

If he owned property and no probate is required that suggests the property was held as joint tenants with the survivor automatically owning the whole thing on the death of the other owner. This however does not stack up with a trust being put in place, as this is something more applicable to tenants in common.

I’m afraid this whole mess is down to your father failing to keep you informed or at least making you or your sibling an executor. It really is unfair to leave it until you die for you to find out you have been disinherited.