Contesting a will help

stvio1

Hi I hope someone can advise ,I have two brothers my father has recently past away and when reading his will dated 2006 my younger son has the option to buy his property for 100,000-00 giving me and my brother 50,000-00 each which when the will was wrote was fair , but now the property has doubled in value and my brother said he is staying with what is in the will so in effect me and my brother will still get 50,000-00 and my other brother 200,000-00 is there anything I can do please

MattMattMattUK

stvio1 said:

Hi I hope someone can advise ,I have two brothers my father has recently past away and when reading his will dated 2006 my younger son has the option to buy his property for 100,000-00 giving me and my brother 50,000-00 each which when the will was wrote was fair , but now the property has doubled in value and my brother said he is staying with what is in the will so in effect me and my brother will still get 50,000-00 and my other brother 200,000-00 is there anything I can do please

You could attempt to contest the will, you would need to speak to a solicitor who would need to read it in detail, not just a two line summary on an internet forum. Contesting a will is expensive and takes a lot of time, however I am not sure you actually have grounds. You could possibly argue Rectification but it would be very difficult to prove. 

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/wills-and-probate/content/100023

Keep_pedalling

Was this a DIY will by any chance? Frankly if your brother does not want to change the terms of the will then there is little you can do. Contesting it will be expensive and your chances of winning probably slim, unless for some other reason the will is invalid.

Mark_d

I agree with @MattMattMattUK . Contesting a will is expensive and it doesn't appear that you have grounds.

I would suggest that you explore some kind of mediation session with your brothers.  Maybe your younger brother is currently happy to get the lion's share of the inheritance but he may well realise that in the long term it would be better to maintain an equal relationship with the other brothers.

pjs493

Mediation with a third party present is possibly your best option. As others have said contesting a will is extremely hard and expensive. Success rates are low unless there is clear problems with how the will was executed.

It seems that the will wasn't particularly well written if it gives a monetary value for a property rather than using terms like refer to shares of the property. eg it sounds like it would have been better if it was written along the lines of 'brother B can buy out the 1/4 value of the property each from brother A and brother C at the market value of the property at the time I die' or something similar in better legal language. You'd be best seeking professional legal advice from a solicitor, it might be that the cash value was intentional for some reason or it may just be badly written.

I've also faced my own issues with a potential contest of my husband's will. A relative removed valuable items from our house belonging to my late husband days after he died claiming that they belonged to him and he was simply taking back what he had lent to my husband. I thought it was odd at the time because I'd always understood that the items belonged to my husband. But my head was spinning at the time and I didn't really think much about it until I looked at my husband's will and remembered those items were listed in the will as being left to our children. I've also found certificates, documentation, and insurance documents that clearly show that the relative gifted the items to my husband some years ago. I'm now in the position where I need to get those items back in my role as executor, but the relative is refusing to return them or provide any evidence that the items belong to him. I suspect I will have to send a letter formally requesting the items be returned otherwise it is simply a case of theft. I have already told the relative that if he wishes to lay claim to the items he needs to contest the will. 

It's already getting messy in my situation and putting strains on family relationships. Your situation could potentially lead to long term damage to the relationship between the three brothers, but ultimately if the brother who stands to benefit most from the will wants to stick with the will and not adjust the figures to reflect the current value of the property, there may be little that you can do. You should speak to a solicitor though so that they can look over the will and provide you with professional advice.

bobster2

stvio1 said:

Hi I hope someone can advise ,I have two brothers my father has recently past away and when reading his will dated 2006 my younger son has the option to buy his property for 100,000-00 giving me and my brother 50,000-00 each which when the will was wrote was fair , but now the property has doubled in value and my brother said he is staying with what is in the will so in effect me and my brother will still get 50,000-00 and my other brother 200,000-00 is there anything I can do please

Who is the executor? And have you seen to specific wording of the will yourself?

LightFlare

stvio1 said:

Hi I hope someone can advise ,I have two brothers my father has recently past away and when reading his will dated 2006 my younger son has the option to buy his property for 100,000-00 giving me and my brother 50,000-00 each which when the will was wrote was fair , but now the property has doubled in value and my brother said he is staying with what is in the will so in effect me and my brother will still get 50,000-00 and my other brother 200,000-00 is there anything I can do please

can you just clarify that the will states "my youngest son" and its not your youngest son.

Its a little confusing

Dave_5150

stvio1 said:

Hi I hope someone can advise ,I have two brothers my father has recently past away and when reading his will dated 2006 my younger son has the option to buy his property for 100,000-00 giving me and my brother 50,000-00 each which when the will was wrote was fair , but now the property has doubled in value and my brother said he is staying with what is in the will so in effect me and my brother will still get 50,000-00 and my other brother 200,000-00 is there anything I can do please

What does the other brothers £200,000 inheritence consist of?

LightFlare

I think brother 1 has the option of buying the property for 100k giving 50k to each of the 2 other brother

the property has now doubled in value to 200k, but the option is still documented.

So brother 1 potentially gets a 200k house for 100k by giving brothers 2 and 3 50k each

As already suggested, in hindsight, it would have been better to document it as xx number of shares as opposed to a definitive monetary amount

Spendless

I'm confused too. I get that the deceased had 3 children and the will said the youngest son could buy Dad's property for £100k. How much was the property worth at that point and where was the £50K each coming from to the other 2 kids? 

400ixl

From what I read there are 3 brothers to inherit.

The will states that there is a property which one must assume was worth £150k when the will was written and the youngest son was given the right to buy out the other 2 brothers, essentially giving them £50k each as their shares. Rather than a % being used, hard numbers were, so there was no appreciation taken into consideration.

Roll on to 2024 and the property has appreciated to £300k but the youngest brother can still buy out the other brothers for £100k (£50k each), giving them a £200k inheritence of the property.

Other brother wants to know if there is any way to challenge the fixed value and make it a percentage value of the property.

As people have said, unless there is something that invalidates the will or clause, then it is either getting the youngest brother to agree to a deed of variation or to pursue legal action and see if they can get the courts to force it.

Latter is going to be expensive.