Can siblings contest my will?

unholyangel

Josiebird wrote: »

I posted this following the meeting with the solicitor! He's in the process of drawing up my will and said that despite me explaining the situation, they could still contest it.
He said to include a letter of wishes to add to the will- this would be given to a judge should they contest. It should explain the reasons why I have left them out & perhaps the judge would be understanding....
I'm a little cross though as I've been so careful with everything and saved hard. I'm paying for the will yet there doesn't seem to be a way of fully safeguarding my wishes.
THANK YOU all for taking the time to reply though, very kind of you

Even I could contest your will - I wouldn't though because I would expect it to fail due to me having no valid grounds to contest it and have costs awarded against me

If they have lots of money troubles and live off benefits, its unlikely they'd have the funds required to start such an action. But a letter of wishes is standard to clarify.

Which is odd imo - that a plainly worded letter is required to clarify what is a legal document. Surely if the legal document can't clarify to a court then its not fit for purpsoe.

POPPYOSCAR

Josiebird wrote: »

I posted this following the meeting with the solicitor! He's in the process of drawing up my will and said that despite me explaining the situation, they could still contest it.
He said to include a letter of wishes to add to the will- this would be given to a judge should they contest. It should explain the reasons why I have left them out & perhaps the judge would be understanding....
I'm a little cross though as I've been so careful with everything and saved hard. I'm paying for the will yet there doesn't seem to be a way of fully safeguarding my wishes.
THANK YOU all for taking the time to reply though, very kind of you

This sounds very similar to what we have been told by a solicitor.

We were advised to leave a small amount so it could be seen they had not inadvertently been missed out with an accompanying letter.

The problem as I see it that when a will is contested it can tie the estate up for years and possibly cost a lot of money.

Primrose

Can you not express a wish in your will or an accompanying letter of wishes that anybody who contests your will should automatically forfeit any financial benefits? That would make your wishes pretty clear I would have thought.

Also could you leave instructions for whoever is your executor not to notify your siblings of your death until probate of your will has been granted?

Josiebird

Exactly! I said this!!
My will should follow my wishes, I support several charities for different reasons and this is what I choose to do.
The letter should apparently detail"why" I haven't included them in order to give the judge a rounded overview. Surely being of sound mind, using a solicitor etc... you'd think I was doing it correctly so as to avoid future conflict
I was wondering if anyone else had experience of this and how best they dealt with it

Josiebird

Absolutely, then the only beneficiaries would be the solicitors not the animals. Trying to sort out before it gets to that stage.

Josiebird

Executor will try, may be I could add this into the will. I.e. Not to notify anyone - thanksfor the suggestion

Pollycat

Wasn't there a case of a woman who cut her daughter out of her will and left her considerable fortune to animal charities?
I think she even left a letter specifically disinheriting her daughter.
I think it went through a number of appeals.
I do appreciate that siblings are different to children.

Primrose

I have direct family experience of a relative who left varying amounts of money to her children dependent of the level of support and financial assistance she deemed she had received from them over the years.
One beneficiary who was miffed at the legacy bequeathed put a caveat on the will to prevent it going forward for probate.

The executor (a solicitor) would not take action to have the case heard in the High Court saying it was up to the beneficiaries to bring forward an action. Nothing was done for many years. Eventually the person who put the caveat on removed it. By the time the accrued mounting expenses on the estate had been paid off there was very little left.

If you want to make a point, could you not leave your siblings a small article such as a picture or piece of inexpensive jewellery rather than money to note that they are not forgotten but you do not wish to leave a financial legacy in view of the finance they have received from you during your lifetime?. I think a judge, if it came to it, might find it difficult to argue against that one.

Yorkshireman99

Pollycat wrote: »

Wasn't there a case of a woman who cut her daughter out of her will and left her considerable fortune to animal charities?
I think she even left a letter specifically disinheriting her daughter.
I think it went through a number of appeals.
I do appreciate that siblings are different to children.

You are thinking of the Illot case. Very unusual circumstances that are almost unique. The daughter get provision. A chastity that contrasted all way to the Supreme Court.

Mojisola

Josiebird wrote: »

The letter should apparently detail"why" I haven't included them in order to give the judge a rounded overview. Surely being of sound mind, using a solicitor etc... you'd think I was doing it correctly so as to avoid future conflict

I was wondering if anyone else had experience of this and how best they dealt with it

My parents left their estate shared unevenly between their children - they had very good reasons for doing so.

The solicitor made notes of their reasons and said these would be kept safe so that if any of us got stroppy and wanted to contest the will, they could be used as evidence.

He also got Mum and Dad to write letters explaining their reasons and these were kept with the wills. When wills go to probate, they become public documents while the letters stay private. If you don't mind your reasons being public, you could put them in the will.

I don't think many siblings would expect to benefit from a sibling's will so I can't see why you would need to leave them a token amount in the will to show they haven't been forgotten, although I know of parents who were cutting a child out of the estate and were advised to do so.