Possible Future Problem With Witnesses Of Will

woodbine66

My brother and I DIYed my mother's will, and got a couple we know in our road to witness it. My brother lives next door to the daughter and son in law of the couple who witnessed the will. Unfortunately my brother has now fallen out with the daughter and son in law in law over a planning issue. Naturally this has made our relationship with the couple who witnessed the will a bit fraught too.

Could falling out with the witnesses to a will cause problems in the future when the will comes into force? I'm thinking that the couple who witnessed will may deny witnessing it when the will is being proved to get back at my brother. Should I be worried? Thanks for any advice.

JGB1955

I'd be more worried about writing a DIY will than a problem with the witnesses.  Who is likely to query the signing of the will?  If you're the only potential beneficiary there will be nobody to query it.  If your mother died intestate would it make any difference to where the estate went?  If not, fine...you don't need to worry.

FabFifty

The role of a witness is to confirm that the will has been signed by the person making it. By signing the will as a witness, you are verifying that you have watched the testator sign or acknowledge their signature. 

woodbine66

JGB1955 said:

I'd be more worried about writing a DIY will than a problem with the witnesses.  Who is likely to query the signing of the will?  If you're the only potential beneficiary there will be nobody to query it.  If your mother died intestate would it make any difference to where the estate went?  If not, fine...you don't need to worry.

Thanks, but the will should be fine - we followed all the rules. It's not difficult if you do your research. I was under the impression that a will had to go to the Probate Office to be proved when someone died? Or do I have this wrong? Yes it would make a difference if my mother died intestate.

Keep_pedalling

woodbine66 said:

JGB1955 said:

I'd be more worried about writing a DIY will than a problem with the witnesses.  Who is likely to query the signing of the will?  If you're the only potential beneficiary there will be nobody to query it.  If your mother died intestate would it make any difference to where the estate went?  If not, fine...you don't need to worry.

Thanks, but the will should be fine - we followed all the rules. It's not difficult if you do your research. I was under the impression that a will had to go to the Probate Office to be proved when someone died? Or do I have this wrong? Yes it would make a difference if my mother died intestate.

That depends on what the estate consists of. Probate will be required if a property is involved, or if she holds things like stocks and shares. A cash only estate will often not require probate. 

Marcon

woodbine66 said:

JGB1955 said:

I'd be more worried about writing a DIY will than a problem with the witnesses.  Who is likely to query the signing of the will?  If you're the only potential beneficiary there will be nobody to query it.  If your mother died intestate would it make any difference to where the estate went?  If not, fine...you don't need to worry.

Thanks, but the will should be fine - we followed all the rules. It's not difficult if you do your research. I was under the impression that a will had to go to the Probate Office to be proved when someone died? Or do I have this wrong? Yes it would make a difference if my mother died intestate.

If their signatures are on the will, and they've added their names and addresses, it's hard to see how they could deny witnessing her signature IF they were ever called upon to confirm, which is highly unlikely, assuming nobody claims the will is fraudulent after your mother's death.

Many lawyers make a really lucrative living from people who fondly believe they've done everything right...and then some wretched so-and-so spots an inconsistency/ambiguity, or the law changes... The failure rate for DIY wills always makes me wonder why people skimp on such an important document where they can easily afford a few hundred pounds to ensure that their hundreds of thousands of pounds are distributed as they wish.

naedanger

woodbine66 said:

My brother and I DIYed my mother's will, and got a couple we know in our road to witness it. My brother lives next door to the daughter and son in law of the couple who witnessed the will. Unfortunately my brother has now fallen out with the daughter and son in law in law over a planning issue. Naturally this has made our relationship with the couple who witnessed the will a bit fraught too.

Could falling out with the witnesses to a will cause problems in the future when the will comes into force? I'm thinking that the couple who witnessed will may deny witnessing it when the will is being proved to get back at my brother. Should I be worried? Thanks for any advice.

If you and/or your brother are significant beneficiaries in your mother's will then the fact you help her prepare a diy will makes it, in my view, much easier for someone to challenge e.g. by alleging you coerced her. 

So even without any problem with the witnesses then I would consider a diy will to be a false economy (unless the estate is likely to be very small). And obviously if a witness wanted to cause problems e.g. by alleging they signed the document when your mother was not around then the estate could have considerable problems.

Manxman_in_exile

woodbine66 said:

JGB1955 said:

I'd be more worried about writing a DIY will than a problem with the witnesses.  Who is likely to query the signing of the will?  If you're the only potential beneficiary there will be nobody to query it.  If your mother died intestate would it make any difference to where the estate went?  If not, fine...you don't need to worry.

Thanks, but the will should be fine - we followed all the rules. It's not difficult if you do your research. ,,,

With respect, you won't know if it's fine until it's probably too late to fix any problems.  If you've done all your research, and the will was executed and witnessed properly, you wouldn't need to be asking the question you are asking.

As others have said, you are far more likely to have potential problems because of a drafting error in a diy will or because questions arise as to whether you and your brother may have unduly influenced your mother.  (Unless the estate is extremely simple and straightfoward and nobody other than you and your brother can make any claim against the estate).

TBagpuss

As others shave said, the main problems would arise if the will were to be challenged. So - who are the beneficiaries, and is there anyone who would be likely to want to challenge it - e.g. anyone who would get more under intestacy or under any previous will?
If there is anyone, then I agree that a home made will which you and your brother as the beneficiaries arranged, is open to challenge and it would be better for your mum to get her will done professionally
If there isn't, and the will provides for everything to go to you and your brother and that's also what would happen on intestacy, then you have much less reason to worry (and if the will provides for most of the estate to go to you and your brother, with smaller legacies etc to friends or charities, then even if the will were invalid you and your brother could chose to honour those wishes )