Can she contest the will?

J

Jason123

Guest
Hi,

Hoping someone has gone through the same kind of thing and can offer help.

My partner's parents are both deceased. Her mother died first and in the joint will along with her father they left the family home to my partner who was the youngest and only sibling still left living in the house.

When the mother died the father fell to pieces and turned to alcohol and in his old age his mind started going. During this time a couple of the siblings got in his ear about changing the will into all of their names so that if my partner got married her husband couldnt take half of the house (ridiculous in my mind). So of course he agreed so he was escorted to his solicitors and the will was changed.

My partner was only told about this when her father died.

So its been 8 months since her dad died and the will still hasnt been read and no sign of it being read either.

My question is - why has there been such a delay in the will reading and does my partner have a case if she contests the will seeing as her dad wasnt of sane mind and the original will stated that it was her mother's wishes that she get the house?
 
she should contact executor to see what the delay is in the first instance. if she thinks that he was not of sound mind when he id the second will, then she can challenge. However, she should bear in mind that there will be expense ii this and she will damage the relationship between her siblings.
 
Thanks for the response.

She doesnt mind about annoying the siblings as most of them arent on speaking terms anyway - she wasnt involved in this 'feud' but has been brought into it as she speaks to the people that they dont want her to.

Thanks for the advice, any other advice greatly appreciated.
 
Just to clarify - I am NOT a solicitor & would recommend she seeks some advice from one.

She should definately find out who the executor is & find out what is happening. Bear in mind, the idea of a "reading of a will in a solicitors mahogony walled office" is pure TV. I'm not sure if the executor has to notify the benifactors until the estate is being distributed, but will be open to others input.

I dare say alot will hinge on the wording of the mothers will & whether it allows the father to over-ride the terms of the will. Also, maybe the siblings could contend that she had exerted undue influence on her parents as she was the only one at home (agian, this would probably depend on the original will).

In relation to "not of sound mind" - I dare say she would need alot of medical evidence to back this up.

It also may be, if she since moved out of the home & was not a primary care giver, that the father felt it was unfair that she should get the whole house. He may have decided the best was to leave the house equally to all of the children (which, without being subject to all the facts in relation to care-giving, I personally think is the fairess way).

Long & the short of it, she needs legal advice!!
 
Agree with Sam, if things were divided equally there would be far less problems between siblings, a lot to be said for being an only child sometimes. Same thing happened to my friend but she did the generous thing and gave each of her siblings a cheque when house was left to her.
 
I presume that the parents had identical wills leaving everything to each other first and then to their daughter. Mother died, father inherited everything and then made new will leaving everything to all children equally.

Has anything happened regarding taking out a grant of probate. There are time limits for challenging wills and your partner may wish to see a solicitor who can contact the solicitor who prepared the will and seek a copy or at least details of the executors and find out what progress is being made.

It the father's GP and solicitor both say that he was of sound mind to make the will then it would be very difficult to challange same. The father only needs to have lucid intervals during which he made the will.
 
I'd imagine that it would be near impossible to retrospectively prove that someone is not sound of mind. Your only real hope is if there was a documented medical history and diagnosis from a doctor when he was alive.

Alcoholism and the normal slowdowns that occur to most people as they get older are not proof.
 
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