Elderly mother left nothing in her late husband's will, estate left to 4 children from past marriage

rolando_ratas

Recommended English Family Law Solicitors required to contest the will of my elderly mother's late husband who has left the entire estate to his children who are from a previous marriage

----------

My elderly mother in her 70s is the surviving spouse of her late husband (my step father) who died a few months ago. Under the terms of his will, she has received no financial provision whatsoever, aside from a proportion of his pension and the right to remain living in the property they shared. The entirety of the estate has been left to his four middle aged children from a previous marriage, these children are not her biological children.

This situation has placed my mother in a deeply vulnerable and distressing position. While she may remain in the home, there are no funds available for:

• Essential maintenance or repairs
• Household emergencies
• Property-related costs
• Her financial security and wellbeing

Given her age and circumstances, this outcome appears fundamentally unfair and raises serious concerns regarding reasonable financial provision for a surviving spouse.

My mother and her late husband were married for over 25 years and prior to that she lived as her common law spouse with him for approximately 7 years; she has contributed throughout the marriage with loyalty and devotion, contributing financially when she was employed in various full time and part time jobs for those years they were together.

According to the will, her late husband’s children will receive ALL of the assets from the marriage, this includes the house, the two cars, the husbands’ shares, the savings in the husbands’ bank accounts and the husbands’ part ownership in a business. In the will it is written that although my mother does not own the (home) property that she shared with her husband she is meant to wholly pay out of her own pocket to maintain it and after she is deceased, the property will pass onto the four children of her late husband from a previous marriage.

The amount she would receive from her late husband from the private pension that she inherited does not adequately provide for contingency for any of life’s emergencies or any care that she may require in the future; also it is unfair that she has to pay for the structural maintenance of the property given that she doesn’t own it and that it will be passed onto her late husband’s children. We have requested from the probate solicitor that her late husband’s children must be informed that there must be some payment / provision for the upkeep of the property that they have to pay not her but I fear that this will be rejected.

My mother has not only undergone stress with the death of her husband but also with the dealings with the probate solicitors whereby she’s had to dig out and provide to them several documents (bank statements, shares investment reports, deeds to the house etc) pertaining to her late husband’s financial wealth (which she will not receive and will only benefit his children from a previous marriage). During this handover of documents it has been revealed by examining her late husband’s documents that her late husband had secretly unknown to my mother, gifted around £70,000 to EACH of his four children from around the period of 2001-2009; these are individuals who are all married now and are financially secure with spouses.

Suffice to say that many people including myself deem the inheritance left to my mother by her late husband is inadequate and unjust and we are aware that there is a time limit whereby we can contest the will to seek a more fair inheritance from the estate presumably via the courts using The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

So given this we are seeking recommendations for any English family law legal solicitors to help us fight this in the courts, preferably in the North West England area as there probably would be the need for face to face meetings; note that my mother herself prior to this was only on the basic state pension as the only source of income, she has no savings and her late husband never gifted her large amounts of money like he did with his own biological children so legal fees paid up front would be problematic; it would have to be some other financial arrangement which would draw legal fees from any wealth sourced from the estate after successfully contesting the will.

It’s hard to estimate the entire value of the estate as I’ve not been handling the paper work but I would estimate that my mother’s late husband’s estate will leave around £110K-£180K to EACH of his FOUR children in terms of the value of the more liquid assets (shares in parts of his business, market shares, investments, savings etc) and in addition to that, the house is worth around £280K-£320K. It is also worth noting that it is almost certain that my mother’s late husband’s four children will legally fight this; they are involved in a legal dispute right now over the inheritance of their own mother when it transpired that one of them sold an apartment belonging to her mother very soon after her death and kept the proceeds without sharing with the other siblings.

freesha

Regarding the…

• Essential maintenance or repairs
• Household emergencies
• Property-related costs
• Her financial security and wellbeing

…surely she has her own savings?

Whalie

It must be in the 4 children's best interest if they pay for upkeep of the house. If they don't, then the value of their inheritance will decrease. Your mother should only pay for things that will keep the house functioning for her.

MattMattMattUK

Reading between the lines, I sense something else.

sheramber

“ legal fees paid up front would be problematic; it would have to be some other financial arrangement which would draw legal fees from any wealth sourced from the estate after successfully contesting the will.”

Who pays if the challenge is not successful or not enough wealth sourced to cover the legal fees?

Exodi

From how I'm reading this, it seems as if this wasn't a mistake, and the fact he had also secretly gifted large sums of money to them reinforces this. It looks to be a conscientious decision.

There are several grounds for contesting a will, but from what you've said it would appear most would fail. People can leave money to who they like, even if some might see it as unfair.

In my opinion the only possible ground (assuming no foul play with the wills drafting, he was of sound mind, etc) seems to be surrounding providing adequate provision for dependents, however it's not clear whether your mother would be seen as in financial need (I know you suggest she is - but all of the evidence you've given is hypothetical - e.g. property maintenance, care, etc). I don't think it is reasonable to expect to be given a chunk of money 'just in case'.

In the case of structural repairs, it is in the beneficiaries to pay for this.

More specifically - you mention your mother has an income (basic state pension + her deceased husbands private pension), does this sufficiently cover typical monthly expenditure?

legal fees paid up front would be problematic; it would have to be some other financial arrangement which would draw legal fees from any wealth sourced from the estate after successfully contesting the will.

What if she loses? She is forced to use a no-win, no fee will dispute specialist.

The problem with that is many are unwilling to take on the case if it's not a slam dunk. The problem they may see with this case is (at least from my perspective) is it is clear the intention of her late husband was to leave everything to his four children.

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6656694/elderly-mother-left-nothing-in-her-late-husband-039-s-will-estate-left-to-4-children-from-past-marriage

For finding a Solicitor, the Law Society would be the first place to make enquiries:

https://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/

It is reasonable that the Step-Father wished to ensure his Estate (particularly in so far as it was accrued prior to meeting your Mother) passed to his children eventually and not to whoever your Mother might determine if she updates her Will following Step-Father's departure.

The "left nothing" does not seem entirely correct, even if that is how it might feel to you / your Mother. Even from your OP, she has been left:

• Life tenancy in the property
• Portion of Step-Father's pension

Your Mother has her pension income - state pension plus, as you say she was working, possibly some private / employment linked pensions.

Were there any bank accounts in joint names? If so, the contents of those accounts pass automatically to your Mother and do not form part of Step-Father's Estate.

Why were all the assets in the Step-Father's name?

• the house,
• the two cars,
• the husbands’ shares,
• the savings in the husbands’ bank accounts
• and the husbands’ part ownership in a business

What assets did your Mother have in her name?

What happened to the income your Mother earned through employment? Did she save any of that at all?

Did your Mother have any awareness of the Step-Father's Will prior to his death? That would have been the easier time to seek clarification on how she would be provided for and / or make sure she had some provision in her own (sole) name for her security.

There seem to be some potential incompleteness in the details which makes it difficult to understand the full situation.

Flugelhorn

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81897398#Comment_81897398

there is a comment that she doesn't have her own savings. not all women of her age do - her husband probably managed the day to day bills and she probably spent her state pension in a similar way

silvercar

Would your mother have some equity in the property without her name being on the deeds? Just thinking that in divorce cases, even if the deeds are in the name of one person, the other can have a claim to some of it because they have had it as their joint home for a period of time, even if one spouse was the homemaker rather than bringing in income.

freesha

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81897460#Comment_81897460

Foolish.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6656694/elderly-mother-left-nothing-in-her-late-husband-039-s-will-estate-left-to-4-children-from-past-marriage

Had she not seen the will before?

Was she named on the deeds of the property? Have you checked if she was and if they were joint tenants or tenants in common if she was?

Its a complex area of law, you can find solicitors willing to work on a no win no fee basis but the success fee isnt legally capped like it is for say injury claims and so as such you may "win" but find the solicitors take everything anyway. You also have a fairly short timescale to contest it so dont time out thinking about it.