Inheritance claim stress !!

Monty3160

hi , 
im really needing some advice if anyone can help pls .
where do I begin ! 
My beautiful mum sadly passed away in January after fighting a long battle of cancer . She came to live with me in August last yr and I became her carer . I have 2 other sisters . One my mum hasn’t spoken to for about 5 yrs ,and another that helped me give my mum all the love & care she needed while she was poorly , i couldn’t have done it without her . My mum wrote a Will in 2017 stating that my sister who she hasn’t spoken to in 5yrs was left nothing from her estate as they hadn’t had a close relationship and she hasn’t supported or cared for mum during her illness. In 2020 November the Will was updated exactly the same as previous but that my dad was not to get any of my mums estate as they are separated but not divorced and have been separated for almost 30yrs. So we contacted my sister a number of times to tell her how poorly our mum was and she still didn’t visit !! . She has now put in a claim through the inheritance act . There was caveat put on the Will and we are still awaiting probate to be granted . She has provided bank statements and debt loans and saying she hasn’t been able to clothe her kids for the last 2 yrs , this is absolute bull !! Now we are being asked to produce our bank statements . I’m really struggling to understand 1.. what has our financial status got to do with following my mums final wishes ? 2.. if it’s stated in a Will that she’s not to have shouldn’t this be the final say ? It was my mums last wishes written in her Will. So now we are looking at 10,000 solicitors fee to follow our mums wishes ! Any advice would be much appreciated pls 

Caz3121

Sorry for your loss, did you mum die in England/Wales or Scotland (the rules are different)
assuming England, this case may be of interest https://www.burges-salmon.com/news-and-insight/legal-updates/ilott-v-mitson-supreme-court-decision-in-inheritance-act-claim/ (sounds like similar situation)

Monty3160

Hi , 
england . Thank you I will have a read now . 

Keep_pedalling

Who is asking you to provide your bank accounts? Whoever it is they have no right to see them and they have no relevance to the claim.

Have you taken legal advice yet?

Monty3160

Hi , yes , we have a solicitor . She has supplied her bank statements supposedly showing poverty , although they didn’t look like someone in poverty with takeaways 3 x a week and her solicitor has now asked for  our bank statements. I really don’t want to because i feel it’s not about financial status but all about respecting my late mums final wishes as stated in her Will. Do we have to hand over bank statements and will go against us if we don’t ?

Marcon

Monty3160 said:

Hi , yes , we have a solicitor . She has supplied her bank statements supposedly showing poverty , although they didn’t look like someone in poverty with takeaways 3 x a week and her solicitor has now asked for  our bank statements. I really don’t want to because i feel it’s not about financial status but all about respecting my late mums final wishes as stated in her Will. Do we have to hand over bank statements and will go against us if we don’t ?

You have a solicitor and you need to ask them these questions. I appreciate you are probably asking here in the hope of keeping down costs, which is fair enough, but it isn't helpful if your solicitor isn't fully in the picture about what's going on. It would take your solicitor very little time (and thus not much in the way of fees) to answer such queries. Although this sounds very much like a fishing expedition, without knowing all the facts and seeing the exact wording of the will, it's impossible to be certain. Free advice has a tendency to be worth as much as you paid for it!

I'm sorry you are having to cope with this on top of losing your mum.

Sandtree

I'll take a different approach here, and probably an unpopular one...

So we are just talking cash here? Not Great Gran's wedding ring or anything of sentimental value?

The sad thing is that she passed before she got to spend all her money. I find the expectation that parents will leave money to adult children slightly odd. At the end of the day she is your sibling and always will be, my mother had 2 sisters and at times went a decade or more without speaking to one, the other or she was the one out of favour but over time it changed because of some claimed slight, often from decades previously. Now in mid 80s she misses both and laments some of the earlier discussions.

Its only money, none of you earned it and I would argue its not worth furthering the divide over it. Ultimately if you want your vengeance on your sister you have a lawyer  and they'll put all blocks they can but your extra 1/6th could become the reason you can never rebuild your relationship.

Monty3160

I totally agree it’s so sad , heartbreaking that she didn’t get to spend all her money on all the things she loved doing .
just the money at present ! 
 She is my sibling but not a very nice person . If a friend had treated you this way , would they still be your friend ? I don’t see the difference , friend or sibling ? It’s the way that you treat people that counts ,
myself and other sister where by our mums side every step of the way , we contacted our other sister a number of times she chose not to come during those last few months /years of our mums life . It couldn’t have been easy for my mum to write her out if her will but she did and must of been so angry hurt upset to have done so , 
As for ever building a relationship with my sister . I would never want to . I don’t want people like her in my life , I can never forgive her .

xylophone

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/103458

The evidence of the financial status of the beneficiaries may be required by the court to enable full consideration of the claim of the person excluded under the will?

TBagpuss

Your finacial position is relevant because if she were to succeed, anything paid to her would reduce the assets for theother beneficiaries.

The specific things a court is required to consider are:

(a)the financial resources and financial needs which the applicant has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future;

(b)the financial resources and financial needs which any other applicant for an order under section 2 of this Act has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future;

(c)the financial resources and financial needs which any beneficiary of the estate of the deceased has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future;

(d)any obligations and responsibilities which the deceased had towards any applicant for an order under the said section 2 or towards any beneficiary of the estate of the deceased;

(e)the size and nature of the net estate of the deceased;

(f)any physical or mental disability of any applicant for an order under the said section 2 or any beneficiary of the estate of the deceased;

(g)any other matter, including the conduct of the applicant or any other person, which in the circumstances of the case the court may consider relevant.

(c) , which I have bolded, is you are being asked for bank statements. Your solicitor needs to know the position to be able to advise you/the executors about how a court might approach the claim. 

Sea_Shell

So is the claim more likely to succeed, if the current beneficiaries are deemed "wealthy" enough by the courts?

Could the claimant actually end up with more than a 1/3rd share if they can show they need it more!!?