Subpoena for copy of will

uknick

My mother passed away a couple of weeks ago aged 97.  4 years ago she moved 250 miles from me to live near my only brother so I only rarely saw her. But I spoke her every couple of weeks until her hearing got so bad it was hard to communicate.  Then it was monthly when I struggled to communicate with her.  

The day after her death, my brother, the executor of her latest will, told me she'd changed her will about 3 years ago when she was 95.  I'm told by him, her final will left him the bulk of her estate (about £600k) and £50k to me.  This is a significant change from her previous wills over the last 60 years which always left her estate shared equally between her remaining children.

Whilst I'm not happy to hear about the change in her will, which came as a great shock to me as she'd never mentioned the change to me, if those are her wishes then so be it.

However, despite repeated requests, he refuses to send me a copy of her final will.  I want to see a copy of the will because his story about the content of the will changes each time I speak to him.  Initially he told me I was getting nothing, then he said he'd argued with her for me to get something and he says it's £50k ish,  Then, after asking him twice again by email for a copy of the will and telling him I'll be able to see it anyway when he gets probate, he emails me saying I'm getting exactly £50k, but still wont send me a copy

Having googled I've found reference to applying to the courts for a subpoena to force him to show me a copy of the will.  However, I can't find the actual process I need to follow.  Can anyone here point me in the right direction?  If it has to be a solicitor doing it then so be it. 

    

uknick

Edenbridge said:

Under UK law your brother is under no obligation to provide you with a copy of the will.
Only at the point probate has been obtained does the will become a public document,a copy of which can be obtained by payment of the appropriate fee to the probate registry.

I'm aware of this, hence my question about a subpoena.  Also my comment to him about the will becoming public after probate

shiraz99

uknick said:

Edenbridge said:

Under UK law your brother is under no obligation to provide you with a copy of the will.
Only at the point probate has been obtained does the will become a public document,a copy of which can be obtained by payment of the appropriate fee to the probate registry.

I'm aware of this, hence my question about a subpoena.  Also my comment to him about the will becoming public after probate

Why not wait until probate has been granted, seeing it any sooner isn't going to change anything? The contents of the will be clear and if there's been any shenanigans, your brother, as executor, will be liable.

msb1234

The law is very clear. No one apart from the executors and probate office has any right to see the will until probate has been granted. The exception is the witnesses who have to sign it in the presence of the person to whom the will pertains. 

You’re wasting your time and energy trying to make someone do something they are not legally obliged to do.

Flugelhorn

msb1234 said:

The law is very clear. No one apart from the executors and probate office has any right to see the will until probate has been granted. The exception is the witnesses who have to sign it in the presence of the person to whom the will pertains. 

You’re wasting your time and energy trying to make someone do something they are not legally obliged to do.

Do the witnesses even need to see the will, they just have to witness the signature of the person making the will

Choirgrl

Some information here about being able to force disclosure of a Will in the case of disputes via a subpoena to the High Court. https://todayswillsandprobate.co.uk/entitled-see-will-dealing-will-disputes/

(For anyone who wants to check out the legislation try here and scroll down to section 50 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1987/2024/body/made)

@uknick If you want to explore this route, I think it would be sensible to talk to a solicitor. They could also advise on other actions you could take if you have concerns about the validity of the Will.

SiliconChip

Were you an Executor in the previous Will? If so perhaps your removal from the role in the later Will might give you more leverage in asking to see a copy.

SevenOfNine

You might want to consider entering a caveat to delay the probate grant if you're determined to see the will beforehand & want some time to investigate a legal route to force brother to let you see it. 

What on earth has he got to hide, everything is so much faster, & cheaper, if beneficiaries just co-operate with each other! Perhaps he feels resentful at being the only one, due to distance & her hearing problems, as her primary contact so he's being a bit awkward just for the sake of it?

uknick

Thanks for the replies.

I was never an executor in the previous 5 will she'd made (4 of these were made in a period of 18 months between December 2017 and May 2019 in which my brother put himself as the executor in all 4.  For fullness, her original will was made in the early 1970s by a solicitor when all her children were under the age of majority)
 
I have entered a caveat, upon the advice of a solicitor after a free initial consultation.  The executor is not aware of this at present.

I was also advised waiting for probate to be granted and then challenge the will was a bad thing to do as this could well involve court time; always expensive.

Yes, I have no legal right to see the will prior to grant of probate, hence my original question.  But, I believe there are strong grounds to challenge the will. 

Why is he refusing to show me a copy of the will? Excellent question.  Because of his refusal, I'm not sure what exactly is in her final will, if it even exists at all.  Hence, why I'm looking at a way to force him to disclose it to me before probate is granted.

With regard to him living so far away, it was his choice despite my documented objections as to how he would cope by himself.  There is a lot more to this, but I don't think it relevant to my initial question about a subpoena.

poppystar

Whilst it seems unlikely given the value of estate you note,  it is presumably not impossible that her assets have been put into accounts that do not require probate in which case the caveat won’t solve the problem you have sadly. 

Marcon

uknick said:

Thanks for the replies.

I was never an executor in the previous 5 will she'd made (4 of these were made in a period of 18 months between December 2017 and May 2019 in which my brother put himself as the executor in all 4.  For fullness, her original will was made in the early 1970s by a solicitor when all her children were under the age of majority)
 
I have entered a caveat, upon the advice of a solicitor after a free initial consultation.  The executor is not aware of this at present.

I was also advised waiting for probate to be granted and then challenge the will was a bad thing to do as this could well involve court time; always expensive.

Yes, I have no legal right to see the will prior to grant of probate, hence my original question.  But, I believe there are strong grounds to challenge the will. 

Why is he refusing to show me a copy of the will? Excellent question.  Because of his refusal, I'm not sure what exactly is in her final will, if it even exists at all.  Hence, why I'm looking at a way to force him to disclose it to me before probate is granted.

With regard to him living so far away, it was his choice despite my documented objections as to how he would cope by himself.  There is a lot more to this, but I don't think it relevant to my initial question about a subpoena.

Probably wise to seek some (paid for) advice from the same source, as the solicitor is now in possession of the facts - always a handy thing to have when giving advice.