Contesting a Will as Next-of-Kin

RomfordNavy

Can anybody offer advice regarding contesting a Will.  The deceased appears to have been pressurised into completing a Will within the last few weeks of life and we now discover that all Family and Close Friends have been excluded while the vast majority of the Estate now goes to the couple of End-of-Life Charities involved.

Keep_pedalling

Unless you have hard evidence that pressure was applied then you have very little chance in succeeding. Next of kin has no legal standing, although a close relative or partner who was financially dependant on the deceased might have a chance of successfully challenging the will. 

Driftingleaf

Looking it up online and reading from a UK solicitor website about contesting a will you might be able to contest if there was "undue influence or coercion". You are best seeking the advice of a solicitor, but this will cost you. Proving undue influence and constant pressure or threats might be hard to prove from what I read. Did your relative lack any mental capacity? You would need to find this out. The law states they must be of sound mind, memory and understanding when they made the will. You say the majority is being left to some charities. Did anyone from these charities phone your relative up or visit them? Was there another will prior to this one? You are best to talk to a solicitor and see if there are grounds for undue influence or coercion from these charities. Be aware if things drag on it could cost 1000s from anyone seeking to contest the will.

mjm3346

If the excluded were financially dependent on the deceased and no provision was made that's one route.

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


Otherwise not mentally capable, fraud, forgery, undue influence.

MalMonroe

Sorry for your loss.

It seems, like any other legal issue, terminology makes a difference. 'Challenging', rather than 'contesting', a will is something that Citizens Advice can help with, they say. The link below says (if you scroll down to near the bottom of the page) to contact your nearest Citizens Advice for details of solicitors. 

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/death-and-wills/wills/

You can always ask for nothing, if you don't try you will never know whether you are able to challenge or not.  

jimbo6977

Be aware that the charities will almost certainly have all the correct paperwork tied up tighter than a submarine door. And they will have armies of solicitors and barristers on speed dial to rebutt any challenge.

The third sector is a veritable industry these days, whose higher echelons have become a goldmine for a particular type of money grubbing charlatan keen to bask in the glow of charitable status. 

74jax

Are you able to speak to the solicitor who did the Will, to express you feel pressure was applied and the solicitor may be able to say they were of sound mind at the appointment and clear what they were doing?

Did a representative of the charities attend the Will appointments? 

Do you have the previous will to see how different the Wills are? 

During end of life, when you were there, was the new Will mentioned at all, how did they get to do this if no family member took them etc? 

How often did you see the deseased, did you open mail, see anything? 

RomfordNavy

Driftingleaf said:

.... Did anyone from these charities phone your relative up or visit them?

Yes one charity was the Nurses the other the Hospice where the deceased went for just over a week.

Driftingleaf said:

Was there another will prior to this one?

Yes but that was many years earlier and just left everything to Family.

Savvy_Sue

How much contact did the deceased have with family in the later stages of life? 

If there had not been much active contact then the deceased might well feel that the charities who had cared at end of life might be better recipients than family. I accept that Covid might have affected what was practical and possible in person, but what was the reality. 

RomfordNavy

74jax said:

Are you able to speak to the solicitor who did the Will, to express you feel pressure was applied and the solicitor may be able to say they were of sound mind at the appointment and clear what they were doing?

Did a representative of the charities attend the Will appointments? 

Do you have the previous will to see how different the Wills are? 

During end of life, when you were there, was the new Will mentioned at all, how did they get to do this if no family member took them etc? 

How often did you see the deseased, did you open mail, see anything? 

Will appointments were just the deceased, the Solicitor and the Solicitors assistant.

Previous will was from years earlier and gave everyting to Family, now completely excluded.

Unfortunately we were not there at end-of-life.  The Hospice did not let us know the deceased was with them until two days before death.  When I collected personal belongings the deceased mobile phone was completely out of battery.

A close friend arranged the Solicitors to visit to do the will as the deceased was apparently being pressurised by the Nurses to get a Will done.  This close friend by the way was not gifted anything in the Will but was listed as a reserve Executor.  Seems strange to ask someone to be an Executor but give them nothing for their trouble.

Had not seen the deceased for over a year due to Covid but regularly talked on the phone and exchanged text messages.  Had a very long chat when the now deceased person was first diagnosed with the condition.  The deceased let us know when admitted to Hospital and kept in touch regularly until we assume phone battery went flat.

Nothing of any significance in mail.

swingaloo2

Is this the same person as in your previous thread re clearing a council property because the deceased persons daughter lives abroad?