Rights of Tenants in Common. Ripped off in my fathers will

elsien

NeilCr wrote: »

Sorry.

I am struggling with your descriptions of your dad. Frail, forgetful, bad eyesight and confused

But then then weak and cowardly.

Whatever the situation with your sister these seem very harsh words about a 94 year old .

In terms of your "rights" I'd strongly suggest getting some professional legal advice

His other thread adds a little more information to the mix. Although I think he may have deleted some of the nastier comments. I really do think he needs to get proper legal advice and step back a bit to give things time to calm down a bit rather than rushing in because he's so angry and making things worse.

Sea_Shell

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

Perhaps the witnesses should be of the testator's choosing, but so far as I know this is not required - just that they witness the actual signing of the will and aren't beneficiaries. I agree with comeandgo that they also don't need to know the provisions of the will they are witnessing. They are only witnessing the signing of the will.

Does make the whole saga a bit fishy though. "Hi Dad, here's that new will wording we discussed, you remember, and I've brought along 2 witness, so we can get this all sorted today"

If that's how it happened, no wonder OP is upset. I'd be too. (and so would alot of people if they were honest with themselves)

Manxman_in_exile

Sea_Shell wrote: »

Does make the whole saga a bit fishy though. "Hi Dad, here's that new will wording we discussed, you remember, and I've bought along 2 witness, so we can get this all sorted today"

If that's how it happened, no wonder OP is upset. I'd be too. (and so would alot of people if they were honest with themselves)

Oh - I agree with you but I don't think the law requires it. I'd be angry and suspicious too!

joyfully

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

Oh - I agree with you but I don't think the law requires it. I'd be angry and suspicious too!

I am sure she did her homework on the legal side whilst persuading him to change his will. On the day it would have been as described above. " Hi dad, I have typed out that will we were talking about. I have two witnesses here to sign" all in the comfort of his own home. She was clever enough to get him to sign a codicil explaining his reasons for the change, no doubt after advice from the lawyer used for my mothers probate. (I was naive to leave her to do that as well).

The codicil gave the reason for the change that my sister so much liked living in the £600,000 family home rather than returning to her ageing husband (10 years older and getting sick), her two cats and her job back in Florida that it would be unfair to leave half the house to me in case I decided to sell it and she would no longer be able to live in it till she died.

She even got him to sign a clause that granted her permission to stay in the house for free until she died, clearly something not in his remit as he only owned 50% of the house.

That is possibly her only slip up. Otherwise it all is simply worded and quite clear and I suspect unchallengeable.

He only died three weeks ago so probate has not started yet as far as i know. She is the first named executor on the will.

Yes it is all raw. It goes against everything I believed in as a family and certainly would horrifying my mother (he is buried next to her and I am sure she is not resting peacefully

happyandcontented

Does she really believe that you should get nothing from the estate? Who will she leave her share to?

I would just force a sale and pay the legal fees.

joyfully

happyandcontented wrote: »

Does she really believe that you should get nothing from the estate? Who will she leave her share to?

I would just force a sale and pay the legal fees.

No she didn't. She gets his share of the house, all the contents, his cash and shares and the car.

She was kind enough to let him give me is old fishing gear!

harz99

OP, your going around in circles! It's been said already, TAKE LEGAL ADVICE, none on this forum are qualified to help you.

Sea_Shell

joyfully wrote: »

No she didn't. She gets his share of the house, all the contents, his cash and shares and the car.

She was kind enough to let him give me is old fishing gear!

Now this is what I don't get. IF it WAS dad's intention to leave the house to your sister, for the reasons stated, why wouldn't he have left the rest of his estate to you!!?? Unless you'd had a falling out, I doubt he was intending to disinherit you, without your sisters intervention.

So sad when these things happen.

paddy's_mum

joyfully wrote: »

she...let him fall down the stairs whilst looking after him in the night and he died five days later

Your rage and hostility are likely to lead you into one hell of a mess, in my opinion.

No matter the rights or wrongs of the money side, I would never forgive a sibling who made this kind of allegation to the whole world while also giving enough other information to perhaps identify me.

Be careful - you are painting yourself into a very dangerous corner.

I wish you peace of mind.

Sea_Shell

harz99 wrote: »

OP, your going around in circles! It's been said already, TAKE LEGAL ADVICE, none on this forum are qualified to help you.

Why do these things have a habit of happening over a Bank Holiday weekend, when it seems you have to wait FOREVER to be able to make any enquiries, and time seems to come to a standstill.

I agree, in that you need to at least see a solicitor ASAP for a 30 minute chat, to see if their is any basis to taking thinks further.

As for who MIGHT of done what to whom.....anything could have gone on in this family, we just don't know. No one can make assumptions either way, but if the sister is a cunning as we are lead to believe, then there won't be proof of any wrong doing anyway, so there's no mileage in throwing accusations around, here or to the police.

Smelling a rat is one thing. Proving there was ever a rat in the first place is quite another.

(Just to add...of course we are only ever getting one side of the story, as is the way on a forum, unless both parties happen to be posting their own threads)