Question on Contentious Probate

Tabby026 · 29 September 2017 at 9:32AM

My husband passed away 3 years ago, leaving me everything in his will. I wish to leave everything to my adult daughter, who I have a close bond to and is physically disabled. I have an adult stepdaughter who I have decided to leave out of my will. I have done a new will and also a letter of wishes, giving my reasons why. I have not seen my stepdaughter in 3 years and had a strained/limited relationship with her when my husband was alive.

Could my stepdaughter contest the will?

In the eyes of the law if my daughter is better off has her own home and savings, whereas my stepdaughter is (as far as I know), in rented accommodation with no savings, could this go in my stepdaughters favour?

Could the court decide to give everything to my stepdaughter and leave my biological daughter out completely?

My estate is cutterntly worth £600,000

My daughter is not money orientated. I just want to be able to provide for her when I am no longer here, as her physical disability means she will have additional needs in the future. Also my daughter does not have a biological father as he died when she was 2 years old.

I want to make sure I am doing the right thing, as in the eyes of the law I don't want to make it difficult for my daughter from a legal point of view when I die.

TonyMMM · 29 September 2017 at 9:45AM

Could she contest it ? ... She could - the question is would she have a strong case or any chance of winning.

That is more difficult - did your late husband support her in any way, or did he leave any instructions about his wishes with regard to you passing on any of his estate to her ? Did she make any move to contest his will when he died (she may have had a better opportunity then...) ?

Hopefully you are having the will written by a solicitor who can give advice on the best way to word things - that is what you are paying them for.

Manxman_in_exile · 29 September 2017 at 10:03AM

I presume you raised this question with your solicitor when you did your "new will"? What did they advise?

Mojisola · 29 September 2017 at 10:20AM

Tabby026 wrote: »

My husband passed away 3 years ago, leaving me everything in his will.

I have an adult stepdaughter who I have decided to leave out of my will.

This is one of the reasons why people change their house ownership to tenants in common and leave their share to their children rather than the spouse.

Tabby026 · 29 September 2017 at 11:04AM

My husband gave her money, when she manipulated him and asked him for money (which she then wasted). She had no real relationship with him, other than using him for cash, as and when she wanted it.

He did not lay out anything specifically to her in his will. however if I died first he wanted half to go to his daughter and half to my daughter. Is this will now nil and void? Would this support her case?

His estate was worth more than I had in savings (i.e. The value of his probate was a large sum on the event of his death). Would this go in her favour?

I have read that anyone can look up a deceased persons probate, so will she be able to find out the total value of my estate after I have passed away?

The solicitor has just told me to do a will, letter of wishes and has said that her claim, if she makes one will depend on the law at the time.

Mojisola · 29 September 2017 at 11:17AM

Tabby026 wrote: »

He did not lay out anything specifically to her in his will. however if I died first he wanted half to go to his daughter and half to my daughter. Is this will now nil and void? Would this support her case?

No, legally your husband left you all the money so it's all now yours to give away as you wish.

If you wanted to honour your husband's wishes that his daughter would inherit from him, you could leave her a proportion of the estate.

SevenOfNine · 29 September 2017 at 11:22AM

Mojisola wrote: »

This is one of the reasons why people change their house ownership to tenants in common and leave their share to their children rather than the spouse.

Good point in the case of second marriages involving step children. Maybe not so much with long married couples who share offspring.

OP, assume the stepdaughter you refer to is the daughter of "your husband" - you have not actually referred to her as HIS daughter?

If that is the case it appears he left everything he had to you, excluding his own daughter?

Was the estrangement because he remarried, to you? Did he & his daughter have contact & a father/daughter relationship before your marriage or were they already estranged?

No 'understanding' when you got everything that you would 'look after' his daughter in your own Will, or perhaps that was already in place when he was alive but as you have not seen her for 3 years you're choosing to renege & change your Will now to exclude her entirely - because you can?

Appreciate the questions appear nosy & don't answer your question, but I just want a feel for what it is you hope to achieve by cutting her out altogether, from funds that were (I presume) built up to a certain extent possibly by HER mother & father? Perhaps I'm presuming incorrectly, apologies if so.

You have not seen her for 3 years, may not see her for many more years, but it just seems sad to want to hit back from your grave. Teach her a lesson perhaps? You say your own daughter is comfortably off but may need additional funds later in life, you say 'his' daughter is not & you're happy to leave her like that?

Ask yourself if he loved her unconditionally, then ask yourself if you loved him unconditionally - then forget a contentious challenge & do whatever your conscience sees fit.

At the end of the day, you'll be dead, & it will be your daughter that could have to clear up the mess (though IMO the chance of a challenge is slim - his daughter may have been in a better position for that when her dad died).

Expect someone will be along to give you the definitive answer, but you should also take advice from a proper solicitor who may advise differently.

Sometimes it's just so sad to see the level of venom & spite (as deserved as it may be if a full story is told of course) dished out from the grave, along with some extremely greedy relatives rearing their heads before a loved one is cold in their grave.

It never ceases to amaze me.

PasturesNew · 29 September 2017 at 11:24AM

Another viewpoint is this:

You've taken everything her dad (and mum maybe) worked for and built up over a lifetime .... and she gets nothing... whereas your daughter will get the lot, which will just be used ('wasted') on her living costs as she won't get a lot of benefits she'd be 'entitled' to if she'd not inherited so much.

I think you owe it to your husband's memory to give a little more thought and courtesy to the fruit of his loins. She never asked to be born; she didn't ask for her parents to split; she never got to choose you.

Tabby026 · 29 September 2017 at 11:46AM

It is his daughter. She was not estranged from us when we got together she just was cold and distant and only contacted him when she wanted money. My daughter on the other hand has never had any hand outs from us, made her own way in life, but her disability means she might need an adapted bungalow in the future. Over the years my daughter has been a huge support to myself and my husband both from an emotional and practical point of view. Nothing is too much trouble for her and she never wants anything in return. She says it is up to me what I do in my will. She has also been a huge support when my husband was ill, taking us out, looking after him etc. My stepdaughter always made excuses to come and see him when he was ill and caused him nothing but emotional distress and heartbreak over the years. She will get a large inheritance from her biological mother, whereas my daughters father passed away many years ago. My husband divorced his wife over 30 years ago and she made him remortgage his property and left him with nothing, so the money although most was in his name was something we built up together.

Tabby026 · 29 September 2017 at 11:48AM

My daughter is not on benefits so your presumption is wrong.

FreeBear · 29 September 2017 at 12:43PM

Tabby026 wrote: »

Could my stepdaughter contest the will?

In the eyes of the law if my daughter is better off has her own home and savings, whereas my stepdaughter is (as far as I know), in rented accommodation with no savings, could this go in my stepdaughters favour?

The stepdaughter would have the right to make a claim, but that does not mean it would have any chance of success. To do so is a very expensive process (£40K or more) and legal aid is not available for such disputes. The fact that she has little in the way of savings counts against her and it is unlikely a no-win-no-fee solicitor would take it on without an indemnity policy in place - The cost of such a policy could be as much as half the projected legal costs of the claim.

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