UPDATE: Brother is talking about contesting will with no evidence. Does he stand much of a chance?

Briansteen50

EDIT: I just wanted to say a BIG thank you to everybody who has replied (Except that one person lol). I've taken all what you guys have said andit's made me feel a little easier. I am still worried ofc but I do feel better. Thank you!

I posted this two weeks ago (Not sure if anyone would remember) basically saying about how long does probate take because I just want it to be over and grieve

And sadly it’s all gone to !!!!!!.

My brothr, (who hasn’t seen my mum for 3 years, didn’t come to see her when she was dying and didn’t even know our (mum and i's) address) has decided he’s not happy with not getting anything in the will (Only found out 4 days ago and hadn’t seen him since the funeral which he turned up too, didn’t speak to anybody and vent 5 mins into the wake) and has started to make ‘threats’ via Facebook.

He's said he’s considering challenging the will. Can anybody advise me if he stands a chance or is just chancing it?

When mum made the will 2 years back she also signed something that said she understood she was leaving him out of the will. We did arrange for the solicitor for her but we were not present in the room while he talked to her about what she wanted to do with the house.

According to my brother he says he believed I coerced her into turning against him and writing her out of the will.
He wants to see the will “ASAP” and I said I don’t have it (it’s with probate). I told him that he can get a copy when it finishes probate. This was his replies over 3 day period.

"!!!!!!. I want it now."
"I have enough evidence to prove you maniuplated her into leaving me out and you're going to be in the !!!!!!"
"Moving her nearer to you so you can keep her away from family? Check box ONE! keeping her phone away form her so she couldn't call me CHECK BOX 2! Forcing her to make a will CHECK BOX 3!" None of that is true. We had family come down nearly weekly. She asked me to get a solicitor to come to the house as she was bed bound. He spoke to her on her own while I was in the kitchen. He spoke to her alone for 15mins and the solicitor said he has.
"I'll take this through the courts and EVEN if i lose you'll have to pay at least 40k solicitor fees so you'll have to sell the houseanyway and if and when i win you'l; have to pay mine too so thats 80k! How you gunna pay for that?" (Copy and paste including typos)
"You need to think of these things now"
"Isn't it funny how she moves in with you and a year later you've been left a house after YOU arranged a solicitor for her? My solicitor will love hearing that"

I am battling grief and now I am battling him and I honestly don't know where to turn.

I've been watching youtube videos and asking on reddit and everything I am doing is correct.
Everybody I have asked have said "He doesn't have a leg to stand on even if he managed to get it in front of a judge"
I spoke briefly to the solicitor who wrote the will and he said "the will is airtight. I have will notes which any judge will look at and say 'you have no reason to contest this'. If you look at it from the viewpoint of you controlling her then that's EXTREMELY hard to prove even if you were but The fact you weren’t it's impossible for him. he'd need statments, solid evidence, letters, statments etc You had carers coming in daily who are trained to spot that, he hadn't seen her for three years, other family members had unrestricted access to her etc any solicitor he saw would strongly advise against it as it'll cost him tens of thousands".

However i got most of those messages AFTER speaking to the solicitor and can't afford a full appointment with him. The last of our savings was spent on the funeral

I have blocked him but he texted me this two days ago "get a solicitor you'll need it!"
And it's really scaring me and putting pressure on me and is making me ill. Is there anything I can legally' do about this? Is it harassment? is that evidence against him incase he did contest the will?

Additional: i am on universal credit and PIP due to M.S.

silverwhistle

It's late at night and I don't want to give too much unqualified advice, but just to say I've read your post and can't imagine how you must be feeling. I lost my mum last year but my distant overseas sister was always visiting when she could, phoning and video calling and we were both there for her.

Sounds like you've been very much on your own and that is hard. I would wait until there is actual action as all he has done so far is, as you ask, harassment. Does he have money to engage a solicitor? A good one will tell him he hasn't got a leg to stand on and a bad one will take money up front.

Daniel54

What an awful situation to find yourself in,particularly when grief makes adversity such as this harder to deal with.

Bottom line is that on the facts set out,your brother has no claim on the estate.He is seeking to frighten and bully you,nothing more

I think you need to trust in the views of the solicitor.It is highly likely that their notes of discussions with your mother will contain her reasons for excluding your brother,who has no right to see the will until probate is granted,hopefully soon,as per your previous thread.

Your brother could have put a caveat on your probate application.Thankfully he seems too ignorant to have done so.Had he consulted a solicitor,I would have expected any legal advice to be that he was wasting his time and money.

Hopefully you won’t incur any legal expenses,but do bear in mind these would be paid from the proceeds of your mothers estate and not from your own pocket.But I really can’t see it coming to that for the reasons above.

Briansteen50

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82028193#Comment_82028193

Ty for your comment. I hope you're right as it's making me really ill.

"Hipefully you won’t incur any legal expenses,but do bear in mind these would be paid from the proceeds of your mothers estate and not from your own pocket.But I really can’t see it coming to that for the reasons above."

That's my worry sadly. The estate consists of the house which is our home too. So if any costs happened it would mean we'd have to sell the house. Hopefully it won't come to that though. :'(

Briansteen50

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82028184#Comment_82028184

I think he has a little (I don't know for sure but I think he'd have a few thousands in savings but not 20k type thing) :(

Daniel54

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82028197#Comment_82028197

I am not legally qualified,but I really don’t think it would come to that.I’m afraid the best you can do is ignore the threats and blank any attempts of your brother to contact you.

Briansteen50

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82028199#Comment_82028199

I hope ur right. Thank you for your replies! My partner says I'm worrying too much but.. I guess I am. I do have a very anxious brain lol

Daniel54

The coupling of anxiety with grief can amplify concerns.Please do lean on your partner and others close to you to share the burden and fears you are experiencing,

elsien

He trying to scare you.
He may also be overreacting because despite his lack of recent contact, he may also be grieving or feeling guilty or a combination of the two and taking it out on you.

He may also have genuinely expected to get half the house and be thoroughly miffed that he hasn’t without thinking about why.

Whatever the reason, your solicitor has told you that the will is watertight, and you have to trust them to know what they are talking about. . So I’d also suggest stay away from googling possible outcomes – it’s not going to help and is probably going to stress you more.

Sounds like the solicitor did everything right – talked to her on her own and drew up an explanatory document. Your brother appears not have the money to take a claim through the courts himself and the chances of a no win no fee solicitor take it on I would suggest are fairly low. He might have a bit more of a claim if he was financially dependent on her, but that clearly wasn’t the case.

If he felt you were blocking access when your Mum was alive, then that would’ve been the time to challenge it and very safeguarding concerns. And he didn’t, so he hasn’t got much of a leg to stand on now on that front.

Chances are he’s being all mouth and trousers - just do your best to ignore him as best you can and get on with grieving.
Block him on social media, block his phone number if he’s upsetting you and tell anyone else who mentions it it’s not open for discussion. If he wants to take it further, he can write to you. You don’t have to read or listen to his abusive messages.

And remember things always feel worse in the middle of the night.

Baldytyke88

A 90+ year old relative changed his will and I thought it a bad decision, because he was very suggestible. So I can understand your brothers emotional response.

It was unwise to cut him out of the will, unless there was a grievance. You should have advised your mother better.

The change of will in the case of my relative didn't materially affect anyone else.

GrumpyDil

Just to reiterate about what everyone else is saying. Having a solicitor come to the house, talk to your mother and prepare the will is really good background. A statement making it clear that your mother deliberately left your brother out of the will is also beneficial as that demonstrates it was a conscious decision rather than an oversight.

I wonder if your brother is lashing out after finding out he isn't a beneficiary but it was always up to your mother who she wanted to leave her estate to and the bar to get the will overridden is very high so hopefully any solicitor would be explaining this to your brother.