Will contested and distribution

River11_2

My sister-in-law and her 3 children are contesting the validity my mothers last will, which was made shortly before her death (I am the only surviving son) leaving her estate to me. I have offered equal cash sums to all my own children, my niece, nephews and sister-in-law.
Hypothetically should they be successful, I see the worse case scenario is we have to go back to a previous will, which just leaves a cash sum to my sister-in-law and equal cash sums to all grandchilden. Should this be the case, there is not enough cash left in the executors account to pay out everyone as per the previous will, but there is enough capital in the house value she has left. However I rented out the house recently for 12 months.
My question is, how would I pay everyone? Could it be from the rent income over time, Or would I have to raise the cash myself if I had the ability to do it.

Malthusian

Hypothetically should they be successful, I see the worse case scenario is we have to go back to a previous will, which just leaves a cash sum to my sister-in-law and equal cash sums to all grandchilden.

If they successfully challenge the Will in the courts then (assuming English / Welsh law applies) the court would decide on what "reasonable provision" would be. This would be based on the circumstances and what the previous Will said may be of little relevance if any. Was she maintaining her sister-in-law / nieces / nephews, for example?

My question is, how would I pay everyone? Could it be from the rent income over time, Or would I have to raise the cash myself if I had the ability to do it.

You would need to sell the house, or buy them out. If the courts change her Will or if you come to a settlement, it sounds highly unlikely they'd settle for dribs and drabs instead of a lump sum.

naedanger

Malthusian said:

Hypothetically should they be successful, I see the worse case scenario is we have to go back to a previous will, which just leaves a cash sum to my sister-in-law and equal cash sums to all grandchilden.

If they successfully challenge the Will in the courts then (assuming English / Welsh law applies) the court would decide on what "reasonable provision" would be. This would be based on the circumstances and what the previous Will said may be of little relevance if any. Was she maintaining her sister-in-law / nieces / nephews, for example?

My question is, how would I pay everyone? Could it be from the rent income over time, Or would I have to raise the cash myself if I had the ability to do it.

You would need to sell the house, or buy them out. If the courts change her Will or if you come to a settlement, it sounds highly unlikely they'd settle for dribs and drabs instead of a lump sum.

The anticipated challenge seems to be that the second will was invalid for some reason. If that was all that was being contested then would the outcome, assuming the challenge was successful, not just be to restore the earlier will to being the last valid will at the date of death?

River11_2

The anticipated challenge seems to be that the second will was invalid for some reason. If that was all that was being contested then would the outcome, assuming the challenge was successful, not just be to restore the earlier will to being the last valid will at the date of death?

Yes that is my point which should they be successful will revert back to the previous will.
But my question is there are tenants in the house next week who have signed for 12 months so I cannot sell the house as they are legally entitled to stay in the house and getting tenants out at the moment takes a long time as it is.
I can raise the cash to buy them out, so won't need to sell the house, but can they force me to raise the cash as the house cannot be sold (or would take a long time to sell) with sitting tenants. 

Malthusian said:

Hypothetically should they be successful, I see the worse case scenario is we have to go back to a previous will, which just leaves a cash sum to my sister-in-law and equal cash sums to all grandchilden.

If they successfully challenge the Will in the courts then (assuming English / Welsh law applies) the court would decide on what "reasonable provision" would be. This would be based on the circumstances and what the previous Will said may be of little relevance if any. Was she maintaining her sister-in-law / nieces / nephews, for example?

The sister-in-law / nieces / nephews were not maintained or reliant by her whatsover at all as they have their own houses and jobs. I assume this will go through the process and assume we will have mediation before it reaches court anyway for an agreed settlement?

naedanger

River11_2 said:

The anticipated challenge seems to be that the second will was invalid for some reason. If that was all that was being contested then would the outcome, assuming the challenge was successful, not just be to restore the earlier will to being the last valid will at the date of death?

Yes that is my point which should they be successful will revert back to the previous will.
But my question is there are tenants in the house next week who have signed for 12 months so I cannot sell the house as they are legally entitled to stay in the house and getting tenants out at the moment takes a long time as it is.
I can raise the cash to buy them out, so won't need to sell the house, but can they force me to raise the cash as the house cannot be sold (or would take a long time to sell) with sitting tenants. 

Malthusian said:

Hypothetically should they be successful, I see the worse case scenario is we have to go back to a previous will, which just leaves a cash sum to my sister-in-law and equal cash sums to all grandchilden.

If they successfully challenge the Will in the courts then (assuming English / Welsh law applies) the court would decide on what "reasonable provision" would be. This would be based on the circumstances and what the previous Will said may be of little relevance if any. Was she maintaining her sister-in-law / nieces / nephews, for example?

The sister-in-law / nieces / nephews were not maintained or reliant by her whatsover at all as they have their own houses and jobs. I assume this will go through the process and assume we will have mediation before it reaches court anyway for an agreed settlement?

If the matter goes to mediation then the aspect of when any payment should be made could be covered within the mediation.

I believe you would only be personally liable for any shortfall or cashflow problems if a court decided you had failed to administer the estate correctly. If they did do that then I doubt the courts would care about any cashflow considerations. They would just order you to pay a specified amount to the other party.

xylophone

Were you aware that your mother intended to change her will?

Browntoa

As long as the new will was properly signed and independently witnessed then I cannot see a successful challenge

River11_2

xylophone said:

Were you aware that your mother intended to change her will?

Of course I was. She insisted for months to change it and kept going on about it. I thought she'd let it drop as I even advised her not to and consider it, but she was so insistent I couldn't go against her wishes. She was an extremely strong minded lady.

xylophone

Of course I was. She insisted for months to change it and kept going on about it. I thought she'd let it drop as I even advised her not to and consider it, but she was so insistent I couldn't go against her wishes. She was an extremely strong minded lady.

Your mother was of sound mind, not under duress, and a coherent will was signed, dated and witnessed - your SIL and her offspring had no claim to support from her while living and would appear to have none after death.

That said, you appear to feel uneasy about your late mother's decision - as sole beneficiary of the new will, you might quite simply arrange for a Deed of Variation of that will such that certain cash sums go to your SIL and offspring and the property is left to you and your children?

Mojisola

River11_2 said:

Of course I was. She insisted for months to change it and kept going on about it. I thought she'd let it drop as I even advised her not to and consider it, but she was so insistent I couldn't go against her wishes. She was an extremely strong minded lady.

If you had died before your mother and she had disinherited your children, how would they feel?

If you want to, you could share what would have been your brother's half between his children.

Robert_McGeddon

River11_2 said:

My sister-in-law and her 3 children are contesting the validity my mothers last will, which was made shortly before her death (I am the only surviving son) leaving her estate to me. I have offered equal cash sums to all my own children, my niece, nephews and sister-in-law.

I think that before worrying about outcomes and what-ifs you need to be clear on the basics.

(a) Who are the executor(s) nominated in the most recent will?

(b) Is the will valid?

On what grounds is your sister in law saying the last will is not valid? Did her claim to invalidity come from her personally or via a solicitor? If the former then the comments in the posts above will help you assess their reliability. If the latter then you may wish to take your own legal advice, which is paid by the estate and not the executors personally.

Assuming the last will is valid and you have certainty as to your authority as executor you can express your generosity via a DoV as xylophone mentioned.