inheritance claim?

colinstack

Hello,
A friend of mine would like some advice on whether he has any options.
I will try to write a brief history.

My friend had a loving relationship living with a woman for 30 years and sadly in 2016 she died of cancer after a 6 year fight.
Unfortunately they never got married but a will was made in the last few weeks but alas was not signed.
The woman had 3 grown up children who took over the affairs in 2016 and allowed my friend, who was then age 70, to continue to live in the house for 1 year rent free until he found alternative accommodation.
The unsigned will is believed to be held with the family's solicitor and names my friend and the 3 children as beneficiaries.
My friend has naturally been grieving but wonders if he has any claim on a share of his partner for 30 years inheritance.
I feel he should be entitled to ask the solicitors for a copy of the unsigned will as a starting point, maybe under freedom of information as the document is believed to name my friend.

I really don't know where he should begin and indeed if it's a can of worms worth opening or not?
Any advice / help would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance

naedanger

My understanding is that an unsigned Will is not valid and so obtaining it will unfortunately not help your friend make a successful claim.

Unfortunately I also believe your friend is probably too late to make any claim from the estate. (The time limit to make an Inheritance Act Claim is, I believe, only 6 months from the date of the Grant of Letters of Administration.)

Sorry I cannot think of anything more constructive.

Keep_pedalling

He has no right to see the will and even if he did it would not help, it is not valid and he is too late to make any sort of claim.

This is another sad case of unmarried couples failing to do the sensible thing and make wills. Even sadder in this case as it should have been a priority to do after her initial diagnosis. There really was no excuse after 6 years.

74jax

What was in the valid Will, I would have thought it would be better to obtain a copy of that? 

Flugelhorn

the will  is  invalid and hence estate either reverts to an older will or intestacy. Pity they didn't get married or make sure the will was OK - very sad and probably quite hard for all involved.

My grandmother managed to write a will and not sign it - though goodness knows, she managed to get 2 friends to witness "the will" when really they should have witnessed a signature.. Fortunately all the beneficiaries under intestacy rules (5 children) agreed with the sentiment of the will (all of small estate to youngest child) and Deed was drawn up to that  effect. 

wilfred30

Are you absolutely sure it is unsigned?  Not sure why an invalid Will would be held by a solicitor?

It's academic anyway though given it's been over 4 years since her death.

nom_de_plume

The OP can check to see if a Will was submitted or if the grant was for Letters of Administration only at - Find a will | GOV.UK (probatesearch.service.gov.uk)

Flugelhorn

wilfred30 said:

Are you absolutely sure it is unsigned?  Not sure why an invalid Will would be held by a solicitor?

It's academic anyway though given it's been over 4 years since her death.

I wonder if for some reason the solicitor had an unsigned copy and there is in fact a signed copy somewhere?

Ganga

nom_de_plume said:

The OP can check to see if a Will was submitted or if the grant was for Letters of Administration only at - Find a will | GOV.UK (probatesearch.service.gov.uk)

If there is no will registered with GOV.UK can they still get to see the LETTER OF ADMIN, ?

MovingForwards

Flugelhorn said:

wilfred30 said:

Are you absolutely sure it is unsigned?  Not sure why an invalid Will would be held by a solicitor?

It's academic anyway though given it's been over 4 years since her death.

I wonder if for some reason the solicitor had an unsigned copy and there is in fact a signed copy somewhere?

Could be the will was drafted but she never got round to signing it. Draft wills are always kept on file, copy sent to client for approval, final will prepared and signed.

Flugelhorn

Ganga said:

nom_de_plume said:

The OP can check to see if a Will was submitted or if the grant was for Letters of Administration only at - Find a will | GOV.UK (probatesearch.service.gov.uk)

If there is no will registered with GOV.UK can they still get to see the LETTER OF ADMIN, ?

the letters of admin will just be that - a letter / piece of paper, there will be no information on it other than who was granted the admin