Unusual clause in mum's will to repay debt

Worriedaboutwill06

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone can help me with this as i am very confused. 

I am one of four children and my eldest brother has helped my mum write a will, has POA and is the sole executor without our knowledge. My mum has said that the estate is to be split equally between us. However, he has put the following into her will; 

Repayment of debt
'I instruct my executor to repay all money loaned to me by my son which hasn't been repaid at the time of my death to my son. If this gift is to fail it will pass to my daughter. For avoidance of doubt loan payments started on the 01.08.24 into my Lloyds account" 

There has been no loan to my mum. He refuses to give any information and states its none of our business. He is currently converting the ground floor of the family home into a flat for himself to live in and will rent his own house out. I dont think what he is doing is legal and I am unsure of what to think, any advice would be much appreciated. 

Flugelhorn

so is he saying that he has loaned mum some money? whose account is it going into ? 

has mum got capacity to make the will and where was it done?

RAS

Just to confirm that mum is still alive?

Worriedaboutwill06

He is not saying anything. The account was set up before the will was completed and i dont know if it is in my mums name. My brother took someone to the house to ask my mum questions without our knowledge, paid for it and the will was drawn up and witnesses signed separately apparently. 

Yes my mum is still alive

DE_612183

Is he sole executor as well?

Worriedaboutwill06

Sole executor and power of attorney too

KittenChops

Worriedaboutwill06 said:

He is not saying anything. The account was set up before the will was completed and i dont know if it is in my mums name. My brother took someone to the house to ask my mum questions without our knowledge, paid for it and the will was drawn up and witnesses signed separately apparently. 

Yes my mum is still alive

re the bit in bold - does this mean that the witnesses didn't witness mum signing the will?

Worriedaboutwill06

one of the witnesses is his girlfriend and the other a friend of my mum. I know they were not present at the same time and signed a copy in their own homes.

Sea_Shell

Sounds like he's trying to "engineer" a "loan" that would be repayable to himself, which would take precedent over any other legacies.

I doubt he's done anything illegal...yet.  immoral maybe, but not illegal.

As sole executor, when the time comes, he pays back the "loan" first, then distributes the rest.

If you challenged this, The burden of proof would likely be on YOU to prove that this debt to the estate doesn't exist, as no one else is likely to be bothered about him proving it did.   Even if it avoided (some/all) IHT, HMRC may not investigate that thoroughly for relatively small amounts.

Worriedaboutwill06

Sorry, the paperwork states the witnesses signed amd watched my mum sign but that is not true

KittenChops

Worriedaboutwill06 said:

one of the witnesses is his girlfriend and the other a friend of my mum. I know they were not present at the same time and signed a copy in their own homes.

I'm absolutely not an expert in this field so I'm sure someone with greater knowledge than I will confirm or deny - but imho that will isn't valid 

Had she made a will before this one?