Money given under duress?

Sea_Shell

Yorkshire_pudding1 said:

Sea_Shell so I don't owe them £5000!) they were in shock as we all were, and that's not a great time to make major decisions.
All the finances were handled properly and correctly in accordance to the law.  I agree that the fact my ex paid the deposit on the watch lends weight to the fact that  it was the right thing to do to continue to buy her the watch. I suppose, in retrospect, I now realise I was trying to do the right thing but not thinking of the financial future for my children. I should have asked her for time to think about it once the dust had settled as it were.
After we paid for the funeral there was very little left for my children. We also gave her all of his furniture as she wanted that too.
Their dad would never have left everything to his girlfriend; his children were everything to him. However, he may well have left her the watch had he been able to buy it before he died.
Hope that makes our position clearer. I will let it go now, and try to open contact with her again for my children's sake.
I guess it's just a horrible situation all round. I would never have asked for a designer watch if it were me but you never know how people will behave in grief when money is involved. I get that she was upset too - it's why we said yes to buying her the watch in the first place. Time to move on.

As you've now clarified their ages, and what actually happened, I'd suggest that it's now up to the "children" to make and maintain contact if they want to.