Change to will to remove siblings of 2nd Husband

onthemend

My mother in law (83) has lost her second husband approximately 3 years ago, and the estate has transferred to her.  We have power of attorney of her affairs and she re-wrote her will so that her 3 children will share 75% of the estate equally, and her late husbands 2 adult children would equally share the remaining 25%.  Her estate comprises of a small apartment 250k and assets 150K

However, since her husbands death, her late 2nd husbands children have not kept in touch and do not deal with her day to day needs, so she keeps talking about re-writing her will to share the whole estate equally between her 3 children, and not to leave the late husbands children anything.

I'm seeking any advise on why she should not be able to re-write her will to make these changes and what position would the 2nd husband's 2 adult children have to contest these changes, our mother in law is of sound mind.

I look forward to any feedback/ suggestions

Marcon

onthemend said:

My mother in law (83) has lost her second husband approximately 3 years ago, and the estate has transferred to her.  We have power of attorney of her affairs and she re-wrote her will so that her 3 children will share 75% of the estate equally, and her late husbands 2 adult children would equally share the remaining 25%.  Her estate comprises of a small apartment 250k and assets 150K

However, since her husbands death, her late 2nd husbands children have not kept in touch and do not deal with her day to day needs, so she keeps talking about re-writing her will to share the whole estate equally between her 3 children, and not to leave the late husbands children anything.

I'm seeking any advise on why she should not be able to re-write her will to make these changes and what position would the 2nd husband's 2 adult children have to contest these changes, our mother in law is of sound mind.

I look forward to any feedback/ suggestions

No reason at all - but ensure she uses a solicitor and explains the facts to them. They may suggest a side letter explaining her decision, or possibly a 'token' gift in her will.

Unless the 'disinherited' parties have an expectation of inheritance (e.g. they were financially dependent on her, which sounds highly unlikely), any claim - even if they tried to bring one - has little chance of success. The position might differ if they can demonstrate she and her late husband had some sort of agreement that his children would inherit something when she died, but that's a long way from a sure fire guarantee they'd succeed.

Grumpy_chap

If MiL inherited everything from her late husband, it is now hers to do with as she wishes and leave to whom she wishes.

That would be the legal position.

It seems a bit mean though to write out the 2nd husband's children so the result is they never inherit anything from their father.

Does the 75% 25% split reflect roughly how much each of them had at the time the 2nd husband passed on?

DullGreyGuy

Inheritance doesnt have to be fair, in my opinion other than a home in an ideal world no one would have any significant inheritance to leave as they'd have enjoyed their life and spent it all.

If you want to be fair... how long was he with her? How much wealth did they bring into the relationship each? How much did they create whilst together? If she owned everything outright and married a bum then his kids getting nothing may be fair... if he brought something into the relationship then it feels a little harsh that they get nothing of that.

I'm almost certain I am fully disinherited by my mother. I am 99.999% comfortable with that, given a free choice I would have liked to have inherited an item from my deceased father but wont be contesting the will etc if what I believe is true. 

silvercar

onthemend said:

My mother in law (83) has lost her second husband approximately 3 years ago, and the estate has transferred to her.  We have power of attorney of her affairs and she re-wrote her will so that her 3 children will share 75% of the estate equally, and her late husbands 2 adult children would equally share the remaining 25%.  Her estate comprises of a small apartment 250k and assets 150K

However, since her husbands death, her late 2nd husbands children have not kept in touch and do not deal with her day to day needs, so she keeps talking about re-writing her will to share the whole estate equally between her 3 children, and not to leave the late husbands children anything.

I'm seeking any advise on why she should not be able to re-write her will to make these changes and what position would the 2nd husband's 2 adult children have to contest these changes, our mother in law is of sound mind.

I look forward to any feedback/ suggestions

It seems a bit mean to only look at their part in her life since their father died, what about all the time the father was alive? If she inherited money from him, to disregard his children seems wrong. Put it another way, does she feel they should be dealing with her day to day needs to inherit? So act as unpaid carers with the promise of payment when she has gone? 

silvercar

Would you be happy if your mother-in-law had died first, and her second husband decided to cut out her three children and leave all the money to his own children?

Marmaduke123

Does the 75/25  split represent the financial assets your mother in law and her late 2nd husband brought to the marriage? 

If so, I would strongly discourage your mother in law from changing her will, and remind her that some of the money she now has came from her second husband, and that he would surely have expected that his own children would benefit from it in the end unless it is required for care home fees.

If it doesn't  represent their relative contributions, a split between your mother in law's children and her late 2nd husband's children could be adjusted to reflect whatever this was. That would be fair to all.

As your mother in law has three children of her own, her step children may feel that she is already well supported.

macman

The OP isn't asking about the morality or ethics of disinheriting her 2 step-children, they are asking if it can be done, and if so, can it be challenged upon death? The answer is yes, and yes. Though as far as the latter is concerned, the chances of successfully contesting it are low.
English law is relatively unusually in that it allows you to disinherit your own children. But, if I understand the OP correctly, these are not her children, but children of her late husband's previous marriage?

Marmaduke123

macman said:

The OP isn't asking about the morality or ethics of disinheriting her 2 step-children, they are asking if it can be done, and if so, can it be challenged upon death? The answer is yes, and yes. Though as far as the latter is concerned, the chances of successfully contesting it are low.
English law is relatively unusually in that it allows you to disinherit your own children. But, if I understand the OP correctly, these are not her children, but children of her late husband's previous marriage?

She did ask for feedback though!

Mojisola

onthemend said:

My mother in law (83) has lost her second husband approximately 3 years ago, and the estate has transferred to her.  We have power of attorney of her affairs and she re-wrote her will so that her 3 children will share 75% of the estate equally, and her late husbands 2 adult children would equally share the remaining 25%. 

Do you have POA because she's not capable any more?  That could make the will easier to challenge - her husband's children could argue that she was unduly influenced by the attorneys so that they inherited the lot and/or that she wasn't mentally capable when the new will was made.

Daniel54

This post leaves me uneasy, even though the mother in law can change her will as she wishes

Does she truly believe that her late husband would have wished his children to receive no inheritance ? You/we have no means of knowing what conversations they might have had on this subject ( unless your partner has asked)

The will as it stands grants double the amount to each of her children than will  be received by each of the step children.That is maybe not unfair 

The question surely is not what the step children are doing for the MiL,but what they meant to their father

I would be inclined to leave well alone and encourage your MiL not to fret about leaving more to her own children than she does to her step-children