Sole beneficiary of estate however inheritance act claim is threatening to make me homeless

Gahhhhhhh

I just want to say thank you all for the input. It seems there's nothing else I can be doing other than what I already am doing. I am going to remove this post now to retain privacy.

Marcon

Gahhhhhhh said:

Hi there, 
I will preface by saying I do have a solicitor, I am fighting this, however I am running out of money and currently have zero income. I am going to be somewhat vague in order to protect my identity however I will try to be helpful.

I am the sole beneficiary of the estate of one of my parents. I have a sibling who estranged themselves some years ago. This sibling has been extremely abusive to me and my parent. They are claiming using the Inheritance Act, which has meant the executors are now holding onto the estate. My siblings claim was full of lies and virtually requested that I be removed from the will and the beneficiary become my sibling instead. I gave evidence to refute their lies and now they have filed for proceedings. They. have not yet served me. My parent knew my sibling would do this and tried hard to protect me. 

My sibling lives fairly comfortably and as they have a CFA solicitor, they have experienced no financial issue in doing this. 

I am in a precarious position. Shortly I will be in a position where I will have no money. Someone close to me has said that they will pay for my rent and food to make sure I stay afloat, however obviously this isn't a good situation. I was stable before this, all of my life circumstances changed as soon as my parent was terminal. I gave up a lot to become a carer. My grief has been debilitating and fighting my defence has added to that. 

Every day I am trying to get a job and create income. I have a bit of a disability which makes this difficult but I am fighting every day. 

I guess I am mostly in shock that my situation is steadily getting worse, and I have to defend myself to receive what my parent wanted me to receive, and it's being practically held to ransom by someone who doesn't need it. I understand the Act is about reasonable maintenance, and currently I don't have that for myself. I just wonder if anyone has any advice, help, thoughts. 

This sounds a truly horrible situation. You don't say what your parent did to try and protect you - a side letter to the will explaining why they didn't wish your sibling to inherit would be extremely helpful, but presumably you've not been able to locate such a thing?

Successful claims under the Inheritance Act aren't as cut and dried as many hopeful claimants believe, especially if the person claiming was not financially dependent on the deceased and had no realistic belief that they would receive an inheritance.

Your solicitor really is the best person to advise; they have all the relevant facts, which nobody here can ever have. I'm sorry to sound such an unwelcome note, especially when you are running out of money, but sadly that's the reality of the situation.

Keep_pedalling

Why are you paying a solicitor when you are not the executor? The executor should be doing this and any fees should be coming out of the estate. Any proceedings your sibling makes will be against the estate not you personally.

The chances of them winner are slim if they were not financially dependant on your parent especially as it seems you were.

Gahhhhhhh

Marcon said:

This sounds a truly horrible situation. You don't say what your parent did to try and protect you - a side letter to the will explaining why they didn't wish your sibling to inherit would be extremely helpful, but presumably you've not been able to locate such a thing?

Successful claims under the Inheritance Act aren't as cut and dried as many hopeful claimants believe, especially if the person claiming was not financially dependent on the deceased and had no realistic belief that they would receive an inheritance.

Your solicitor really is the best person to advise; they have all the relevant facts, which nobody here can ever have. I'm sorry to sound such an unwelcome note, especially when you are running out of money, but sadly that's the reality of the situation.

Thank you for this. My parent wrote a letter to explain their decisions around the will and that was also filed with the executor. It sounds like they advised my parent to write this in order to help protect the will. I have seen all notes, the letter and will as part of defending the case. My parent was consistent in their wishes and their concerns that my sibling would not respect them. It was all recorded. 

My sibling was not at all dependant on my parent. They had cut contact some years before and had begun to estrange themselves even longer that that. Their wishes were to never hear from our parent again. They were quite enraged that they were removed from the will as a result. 

My solicitor and executor knows of my situation and both have told me that there's nothing they can do.

comeandgo

Which country are you in and which country did your parent die in?

Gahhhhhhh

Keep_pedalling said:

Why are you paying a solicitor when you are not the executor? The executor should be doing this and any fees should be coming out of the estate. Any proceedings your sibling makes will be against the estate not you personally.

The chances of them winner are slim if they were not financially dependant on your parent especially as it seems you were.

The executor paid the first month of costs and have not been willing to continue paying any further. The proceedings have me listed as the defendant. I'm not sure if that's why?

You are correct in that my sibling was not at all financially dependent on my parent, and I was. 

Gahhhhhhh

comeandgo said:

Which country are you in and which country did your parent die in?

We're British, this is a British forum? My parent died in the UK.

Keep_pedalling

Gahhhhhhh said:

Marcon said:

This sounds a truly horrible situation. You don't say what your parent did to try and protect you - a side letter to the will explaining why they didn't wish your sibling to inherit would be extremely helpful, but presumably you've not been able to locate such a thing?

Successful claims under the Inheritance Act aren't as cut and dried as many hopeful claimants believe, especially if the person claiming was not financially dependent on the deceased and had no realistic belief that they would receive an inheritance.

Your solicitor really is the best person to advise; they have all the relevant facts, which nobody here can ever have. I'm sorry to sound such an unwelcome note, especially when you are running out of money, but sadly that's the reality of the situation.

My solicitor and executor knows of my situation and both have told me that there's nothing they can do.

Well there is nothing they can do to prevent a challenge, but there is plenty they can do to defend it and from what you have said there is little chance of the challenge succeeding. The cost of defending it should come out of the estate not you, and if your sibling loses they are likely going to have to pay both sides costs. 

Mojisola

Gahhhhhhh said:

comeandgo said:

Which country are you in and which country did your parent die in?

We're British, this is a British forum? My parent died in the UK.

The Scottish inheritance laws are different to the ones in England and Wales.

Gahhhhhhh

Mojisola said:

The Scottish inheritance laws are different to the ones in England and Wales.

Apologies, we are not Scottish.

Sarahspangles

Gahhhhhhh said:

The executor paid the first month of costs and have not been willing to continue paying any further. The proceedings have me listed as the defendant. I'm not sure if that's why?

Is the Executor a professional (whose costs would be paid) or a family member/friend who is not a beneficiary?

Do you have 'an axe to grind' with the claimant i.e. is there animosity between you, or rather was there before they contested the will?