Wills.... what do I do? Feel cheated out of inheritence

[Amblu81]

My mother was married to man Z from 1975 until their divorce in 2003.
There is a decree absolute.

My Mum made a will in 1991 leaving her estate to her husband, should he not be around, it would come to me.

My mother met a new partner (man B) and bought a property together in October 2015. My Mum paid the £44,000 deposit from the proceeds of the sale of her property she owned with me previously. I am 99.9% sure this was as tenants in common as she encouraged me to do the same when I purchased a property with my ex partner and assured me she had protected my inheritance.

My mother passed away in November 2017, she had not made another will.. My mother and man B never married. The executor of the will resigned as she was very poorly and living 300 miles away, leaving my Aunt to do so. She had no idea she was meant to or even mentioned in my Mums will and was in no fit state to do so having lost her little siter whom she was very close to.

Man B and I both had copies of the will but on her deathbed, my Mum reminded me that my inheritance is tied up in the property and begged me not to throw man B out/force him to sell. I promised her this so Man B has lived there ever since. I never expected him to live there so long and with his new wife. This would not be my Mum's wish.

Unknown to me at the time, Man B married his new partner in 2019. She is shown as joint owner of the property deed. I only ordered them and found this out today.

I meant to take it up at the time and made initial enquiries, but covid happened and then I went through a painful separation myself. I have finally sold the property I owned with my ex-partner and about to purchase another property to start afresh. Due to a blip, my mortgage provider is now requesting an extra £17,0000 for my deposit, which I do not have. I approached Man B for ways to free up the inheritance I am due, or at least some of it. He replied that there is no money but I might get some of the sale proceeds on his death, should his wife decide to sell.

Is there anything I can do? I realise it is too late for the property I am trying to purchase but I now want to pursue getting back anything due to me. I feel royally cheated

Man Z is shown as my father on my birth certificate (he is not, not entirely sure who is tbh!) Man B is not a possible father, but has been my Mums friend since the 70's.

Has he been paying you rent all these yours on your half the house? Do you own the whole house or 50/50 with him?

I think you need some proper legal advice. Who's house is the name in?
Your mum made a will in 1991 leaving half of her estate to her ex husband and did not update the will when she divorced?

Maybe get this moved to the Legal Matters board @@Amblu81 ?

There are lawyers on there that pop
up with proper legal opinions.

ooh I didnt see that board. Thank you

I have an appointment booked next week but not til later in the week due to work and children. Just feeling quite shocked as I bought the title deeds etc from land registry today and it is him and his new wife named as property owners. My Mum and him were joint owners (tenants in common) before that.

Nope, property not in my name.

You need proper legal advice.

Your post makes it seem that Man Z should inherit - as she hadn't updated her will since 1991 but depending on wordi mg of the will (I.e is he named or does it say "my husband if I am married at the time of my death").

If you are the legal owner of the house, or part of it, then you can take Man B to court to force a sale or get him to buy you out. However, the only way she could have left him lifetime rights to stay in the home is by updating the will...

Have you seen the Will?

Thank you, yes I have a copy of the will, the sale details when she bought the property with him, the latest land registry details and the decree absolute for the ex husband. Will states estate to go to her then husband (man Z), if he is not around it goes to me or be retained for me until I am 18 (way past 18!!) She never updated it as the £10 will scheme didnt cover it!!

If I were you I’d be trying to get a hold of a copy of the property transfer deed dated Oct 2015 from the Land Registry. There will be a box on there setting out whether it was bought as tenants in common or joint tenants. I think legal advice will stem from there (read alongside the will). Your solicitor will be able to get a copy of that doc if you can’t.

@MNHQ Please can you move this to the legal matters board?

Thanks everyone for your help so far. I let ManB stay in the house as it was my last promise to my Mum, she was far too poorly to amend her will at this point and died a few hours later. She had cancer several times before and I am sure she knew it had come back ....I found her collapsed on the floor, she then was in and out of hospital and then died 3 weeks later. She went down hill too quickly to sort out a will. But yes, she should of dobe it way sooner

You need to find out if she bought as joint tenants, or tenants in common. You can't make an assumption just because she advised you to do the latter.

What does "if he's not around mean" - if the Will states "I leave my estate to Joe Smith, unless he is deceased, in which case it should pass to my daughter..."

Or does it say "I leave my estate to my husband. If our marriage is dissolved or he is deceased it should pass..."

Divorce doesn't nullify the will.

Who was the executor of the Will? They haven't done their job properly...

Thank you, I will find out 100%. I am certain I saw a copy of a letter from the conveyancer at the time stating tenants in common, which I took and should be in the pile of her paperwork I am currently going through. Fingers crossed.

Is man Z alive? I agree with previous post that it’s not clear what disqualifies him from inheriting.

The executor wrote to formally resign from the position on hearing of my Mums death. She worked independently but was too ill and frail to deal with it, and lived over 300 miles away. My Aunt was also named as executor but wasnt awareof it let alone what to do.

it says 'unto my said husband should he survive me for a period of 90 days absolutely' worryingly there is no mention of divorce. Although she then later went through a solicitor for a decree absolute.

I have no clue if ManZ is alive but I have a copy of the decree absolute from the County Court

According to this, divorce doesn't invalidate the wll made when she was married, but it does make it as though the ex husband doesn't exist - so if it was everything to him, and if he'd died then everything to you, then everything should have come to you.

If she did own tenants in common with new husband, then her half / share of the property should have come to you. Anything in bank accounts in solely her name should also have come to you.

New man therefore could share his half of the property with his wife, but you should own your DMs share still. I don't know what proof the LR need to change a registration when someone dies - if they need to see a will or just take someone's word for it.

If it was owned as joint tenants it would have gone to new man. Anything in joint bank accounts will also have become his.

https://www.co-oplegalservices.co.uk/media-centre/articles-jan-apr-2018/what-happens-to-my-will-after-divorce/

There's no such user as MNHQ so you can't tag them. You need to report your OP and explain you want it moving x

Surely it's man z who is technically entitled to all of it, if he's still alive? Does the executor have an obligation to find him? Assuming he has passed, then the house would be fully in your name according to your mum's will? So man b has no claim to any portion of the property. But he's put his new wife on the deeds. Had he contributed to the cost of the house?
It sounds awful OP. I hope the solicitor can help you move things forward.

Can I just clarify - DM passed away in 2017, 2 executors named in the will, one knew she was executor and resigned, the other (DMs sister) executor never saw the will or knew she was supposed to be the executor and you and B both had copies of the will but just did nothing and ignored the situation until today? Is that right?

The court order states that it should be taken that man Z has died when considering the will, therefore it should come to me

Has anyone actually administered the will OP?

Man Z isn’t entitled to anything. On divorce, a will treats him as though he were dead. You should be entitled to all of your mother’s estate.

If your mum and the man owned the property as tenants in common, the property hasn’t automatically passed to him in it’s entirety (like it would with joint tenants). Your mum’s share of the property passes with the terms of your mum’s will and then you effectively co-own the property with the man. Unless he was the executor he would be unable to represent your mum’s share of the property to facilitate a transfer at land registry from the joint names of your mum and the man, to man and new wife and a grant of probate would be needed for your Mum so this needs
double checking.

Yes, and yes. The past 8 years have been the most traumatic, my Mum and I were super close and I watched her die infront of me.

The executor suggested we didnt need anyone legal involved and to sort out between ourselves. My Mums begging and nybpromise to her on her deathbed outweighed any rational thought.

I had taken it up with a solicitor in 2019 when he got together, moved in and married his new partner. But then covid happened, my own issues at the hands of an abusive partner and trying to escape whilst protecting 2 small children. I have been way too soft as when I have approached ManB about it all he has just pleaded poverty and I stupidly felt sorry for him. But now I see his wife is named as a property owner and his refusal to help me despite me , I feel doubt that is the case.

It is indeed a bit of a mess.