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

bootzey

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81897524#Comment_81897524

Nope. Why would you assume that the lady had her own savings? Seems to me the old fella lived off her while having his own money hidden. Clearly something is going on with and around his 4 kids.

Emmia

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81901685#Comment_81901685

I don't think we know when the will was made... Before or after their marriage.

Flugelhorn

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81901762#Comment_81901762

I presume if it was before then it is now invalid

Emmia

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81901763#Comment_81901763

But despite asking a couple of times the OP hasn't clarified - I'm presuming afterwards, but given the structure of the will it may have been before. The timing is crucial to this question.

Flugelhorn

absolutely @Emmia - I am presuming it is afterwards as they are clearly ploughing on with probate which they wouldn't be able to do if the deceased was intestate

chalkstripe

I am not an expert but I thought the position with spouses was that a will could not leave a spouse worse off than a divorce. On that basis I imagine there would be grounds for some of the house to be allocated to her. Definitely worth a conversation with a solicitor sooner rather than later.

Alderbank

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81903226#Comment_81903226

You are thinking of the 'Divorce Cross Check' and the 'Not Worse Off' principle.

First of all, the surviving spouse has to bring a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. The court then might choose to apply these principles to estimate what the spouse might reasonably have expected to receive if the marriage had been terminated by divorce rather than death.

It's not automatic and the court doesn't have to do this.