Married before death - Statutory Will

DaytimeWhiteCollarNighttimeDIYer

Hi All,

Forgive my general lack on knowledge in this area (and my poor grammar), I'm going to set the scene first and then describe the problem.

My Mother-In-Law (MIL) has always been very close to her 'Aunt' and 'Uncle' and as a result she was told on several occasions that because Aunt (A) and Uncle (U) were never married and didn't have children (both were in the mid to late 70s), that most of their estate on their deaths would be left to her. U was diagnosed with Alzheimers in 2019\2020. I can't remember exactly.

In comes Covid, A and U live in another part of the UK so MIL has been unable to visit, due to restrictions etc. We found A had died towards the end of last year after a short illness, very unexpected. We were never told she was poorly and it turns out that just before she died A and U got married. U was also in the advanced stages of Alzhiemers at this point so the fact the wedding was allowed to go through is bizarre. It also turns out that a unknown woman has appeared who was 'maid of honor' and was given instructions not to tell any of the family that A and U were getting married. We only found out after the event when MIL managed to visit U in the nursing home after A died and a member of staff mentioned how nice it was. Unknown was furious when we found out.

Fast forward to early this year and U has unfortunately left us and we've found out that any previous WILL that was drawn up before they were married is now void, it also transpires that they had attempted to have another WILL written but this was never signed (we've been told the new WILL left a large portion of the estate to the Unknown, how MIL found this out I am unsure). With no usable WILL the estate looks set to go down to U's family who he didn't want to benefit at all. He was really on point about this. MIL has sort legal advice to see if the marriage can be 'voided' U really wasn't in the correct frame of mind to agree to a wedding. He was always very anti-marriage, but she's been told it could cost a small fortune to overturn the marriage and get the original WILL reinstated. She has read about a STATUTORY WILL where the original WILL from before the marriage can be used but we're unsure if this is possible.

We don't know where the Unknown person came from or where she has now vanished to, but we know she doesn't live anywhere near A and U so how they were introduced\met is a mystery.

If anyone could point us in the right direction, it would be real appreciated. Thank you,

Marcon

DaytimeWhiteCollarNighttimeDIYer said:

Hi All,

Forgive my general lack on knowledge in this area (and my poor grammar), I'm going to set the scene first and then describe the problem.

My Mother-In-Law (MIL) has always been very close to her 'Aunt' and 'Uncle' and as a result she was told on several occasions that because Aunt (A) and Uncle (U) were never married and didn't have children (both were in the mid to late 70s), that most of their estate on their deaths would be left to her. U was diagnosed with Alzheimers in 2019\2020. I can't remember exactly.

In comes Covid, A and U live in another part of the UK so MIL has been unable to visit, due to restrictions etc. We found A had died towards the end of last year after a short illness, very unexpected. We were never told she was poorly and it turns out that just before she died A and U got married. U was also in the advanced stages of Alzhiemers at this point so the fact the wedding was allowed to go through is bizarre. It also turns out that a unknown woman has appeared who was 'maid of honor' and was given instructions not to tell any of the family that A and U were getting married. We only found out after the event when MIL managed to visit U in the nursing home after A died and a member of staff mentioned how nice it was. Unknown was furious when we found out.

Fast forward to early this year and U has unfortunately left us and we've found out that any previous WILL that was drawn up before they were married is now void, it also transpires that they had attempted to have another WILL written but this was never signed (we've been told the new WILL left a large portion of the estate to the Unknown, how MIL found this out I am unsure). With no usable WILL the estate looks set to go down to U's family who he didn't want to benefit at all. He was really on point about this. MIL has sort legal advice to see if the marriage can be 'voided' U really wasn't in the correct frame of mind to agree to a wedding. He was always very anti-marriage, but she's been told it could cost a small fortune to overturn the marriage and get the original WILL reinstated. She has read about a STATUTORY WILL where the original WILL from before the marriage can be used but we're unsure if this is possible.

We don't know where the Unknown person came from or where she has now vanished to, but we know she doesn't live anywhere near A and U so how they were introduced\met is a mystery.

If anyone could point us in the right direction, it would be real appreciated. Thank you,

A statutory will can only be made while someone is still alive and will require the Court of Protection's involvement: https://www.gov.uk/apply-statutory-will 

If the person who conducted the wedding ceremony believed that your aunt and uncle were capable of understanding the vows they were making, and the witnesses to the ceremony also believed that, it is going to be close to impossible to overturn the marriage, particularly as you weren't there. Presumably you've discussed this with the nursing home?

If your aunt died intestate, then the rules of intestacy apply; ditto uncle, who will have inherited most of her estate (possibly all, depending on the value): https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

This all sounds very peculiar. Do you know if the 'maid of honour' was also a witness? If so, a copy of the marriage certificate (https://www.gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificate) will identify them, although the person conducting the ceremony and/or the nursing home might also be willing and able to tell you.

Marcon

DaytimeWhiteCollarNighttimeDIYer said:

 It also turns out that a unknown woman has appeared who was 'maid of honor' and was given instructions not to tell any of the family that A and U were getting married. We only found out after the event when MIL managed to visit U in the nursing home after A died and a member of staff mentioned how nice it was. Unknown was furious when we found out. 

We don't know where the Unknown person came from or where she has now vanished to, but we know she doesn't live anywhere near A and U so how they were introduced\met is a mystery.

I went on pondering your post....

How do you know this happened? Why did the nursing home think the unknown person had authority to insist the family should not be told? How do you know Unknown was 'furious' ? If you don't know where she came from/has gone to, how do you know she doesn't live anywhere near A and U? Might be worth finding out how your MIL knew about the unsigned new will - if it contained a large bequest to Unknown, it is likely to include Unknown's address.

I'm not sure the answers to the above will help much, but it's just possible they could shed a flicker of light.

Manxman_in_exile

Marcon said:

...
How do you know this happened? Why did the nursing home think the unknown person had authority to insist the family should not be told? How do you know Unknown was 'furious' ? If you don't know where she came from/has gone to, how do you know she doesn't live anywhere near A and U? Might be worth finding out how your MIL knew about the unsigned new will - if it contained a large bequest to Unknown, it is likely to include Unknown's address.

...

Those are all questions that struck me as well.  Also, if nobody knows who this person is, why does MiL think they are mentioned in the "new will"?  (I'm assuming this new will has not been found, but if it has surely the "unknown" is identified - if they're a beneficiary?).

Surely the nursing home knows who this person is - or who they claim to be?  Posing as a relative perhaps?

All seems a bit dodgy to me...

Ganga

Waiting for Hercule Poirot to solve this one.