Will contested and distribution

GSS20

SIL would have to fund her own legal expenses unless she used a no win no fee company who would probably advise her on her chances of winning but if she wins the expenses could be paid by the estate. The executors expenses would be paid by the estate. Quite often the costs of contesting a will far outweigh the benefits of winning. 

GrumpyDil

Yup. I challenged a will and we settled shortly before starting court proceeding.

Although we reverted to a previous will it still ended up costing me around £20000 which I was unable to recover. 

naedanger

Bolt1234 said:

Could I ask a question please.  Not for me but a relative told me that ANYONE can challenge a will and the funding will come out of the estate of the dead person.  I told him that cannot be true but that I thought certain relatives might be able to do something - what is correct please?

Is this SIL wanting to challenge the will because she thinks the estate will fund her claim and will they?

Effectively she has nothing to lose.

The following seems a good article on the costs of contesting a will and who will bear them.

https://www.wrighthassall.co.uk/knowledge-base/how-much-does-it-cost-to-contest-a-will

Silvertabby

Hitting said:

Mojisola said:

Hitting said:

Is it possible to have two different mirror wills, where the surviving spouse decides which will would be relevant to use?

Not officially because whichever will was signed last would be the valid will but that wouldn't stop the testator destroying the later will if they wanted the previous will to stand.

There is nothing stopping the survivor writing a completely different will if they don't want to go ahead with the mirror will.

The now rarely-used joint wills couldn't be changed after the death of the first person but a mirror will can be changed at any time.

Are you saying that a surviving spouse can write a new Will although the deceased was instrumental in writing the original mirror will?....thus changing deceased wishes!

Absolutely.  There are several threads on these boards relating how the survivor wrote a completely new Will leaving everything to their own children, cutting out their stepchildren.  

AnotherJoe

Bolt1234 said:

Could I ask a question please.  Not for me but a relative told me that ANYONE can challenge a will and the funding will come out of the estate of the dead person.  I told him that cannot be true but that I thought certain relatives might be able to do something - what is correct please?

Is this SIL wanting to challenge the will because she thinks the estate will fund her claim and will they?

Effectively she has nothing to lose.

Right on the first, wrong on the second. The "contestee" will have to pay their own legal expenses. The estate will pay the estates legal expenses.

Depending upon the results, the contestee may need to pay the estates fees if they lose.

Pennylane

Bolt1234 said:

Could I ask a question please.  Not for me but a relative told me that ANYONE can challenge a will and the funding will come out of the estate of the dead person.  I told him that cannot be true but that I thought certain relatives might be able to do something - what is correct please?

Is this SIL wanting to challenge the will because she thinks the estate will fund her claim and will they?

Effectively she has nothing to lose.

I believe your friend is correct.  Anybody can put a caveat on for just £3 and that stops the probate application.  They don’t even have to say at that stage why they are doing so.  It is very wrong and the person challenging the will holds all the cards as far as I can see.