AIBU to ask if we can contest Dads will?

[loudbullfinch]

I have a family problem but don't want to disclose exactly which position I am in.

Dad has 8 kids, and 20 grandchildren. Dad has willed everything split between 3 granddaughters and nothing for his children or other grandchildren. The granddaughters are 2 of 1 child and 1 of another child - all aged between 20-30 and his youngest grandchildren.

Dad's children are upset about the will and the family is divided. 2 of Dad's kids have banded together and want to contest the will, claiming he wasn't of sound mind at the end. One of the kids cared for Dad for a few months.

The will was written shortly prior to Dad's death by 1 of his 3 granddaughters he has split everything between. It was witnessed by a friend of the granddaughters family and not somebody Dad had any contact with prior to this.

The 2 children contesting are trying to talk the other children into backing them saying he wasn't fully capable even though they had little contact with him.

Sorry if this is disjointed I am trying to write it as non-biased as possible but am also really upset at the family fall out. It's got very nasty . Does anyone know what will happen when/if it's contested and if it sounds likely to succeed?

You don't say where you are - are you in England?

Do you have medical evidence that he wasn't of sound mind, or is it just that the family don't think he would have done that?

Unless you have clear evidence he wasn't of sound mind (doctors who saw him, other medical professionals?) then unless it is a gigantic sum at stake you have every chance of using up the entire estate on a court case that will destroy your family relationships for good.

In all honesty is it worth contesting. If there is something that somebody would really like can’t they just say that and ask for it. There’s a lot of kids and grandchildren in this scenario. Is it about the money? Was he loaded. Hard one x

you can - but do you have evidence that he was not of sound mind when he wrote the will? Are you one of the children contesting this will? What do you want to do?

You say that the will was witnessed by "a friend" so only one witness? Are you in Scotland? IANAL, but pretty sure a will in England & Wales requires two witnesses to be valid.

I’d be a bit suspicious if the grandaughter who wrote the will put only herself & 2 others in it. But I don’t know anything about your family & the relationships between them. In my family for example i help my grandparents but they have children (my mom
& siblings) who would take care of anything legal like a will. That kind of job wouldn’t be left to
Me unless no-one else was capable or was close to him.

What’s your gut feeling- do you think this was your dad’s wishes or do you think he wasn’t in sound mind? X

Surely there needs to be evidence he wasn't if sound mind.

I think it's abhorrent to contest a will without a strong genuine concern, he's stated his wishes, and they should be respected even if the related parties don't like it. It's not their decision!

(This assumee the will is legal, applies with any local law, etc)

A big consideration is whether the estate was worth £80,000 or £800,000+

By the time you take the legal fees out and split it 8 ways is it really worth tearing the family apart when there is no real evidence this wasn't exactly what he wanted

What willow said- twenty years ago, part of the family wanted to contest my GF will (well, actually, his adult step-children did: their mother - to whom he's been married ten years "only" got a lifetime interest in their home [that he had bought outright, with no contribution from her], half of its value if it was to be sold, all their cash and all their investments): they were strongly advised by the solicitors handling the will that as it was "only" around 1.5 million in value, they would be on a hiding to nothing once all costs were involved.