Advice on inheritance disputes

[Ilovechinese]

Hi I'm just wondering if anyone on here has been to court to contest a will and if so how long did it take to get to court and what the process is. I'm going through this at the minute (well not got to court yet) but have a caveat in place to stop probate.

I know you haven't given figures but imagine it's like this

300,000 'supposed' to be shared 3 ways so 100,000 each. Instead you and your sister get 50,000 and your brother gets 200,000

Now imagine you go to court. You lose, which is likely I'm so sorry to say. You owe 40,000.

You now have 10,000, your brother still has 200,000. Your sister still has 50,000 because despite encouraging you to fight, and e levying more if you won, I'm guessing she'll suddenly go shy when it comes to sharing the court costs. M

All that has happened is you are exhausted, still furious and no where near understanding why this happened. Because you can't know, because the people who do know are gone.

I know this feels awful but you WERE left something. Enjoy that, let go xxx

*expecting

There was a will and not contested
Why on Earth 10 years and loads of money to sort?

Big estate, useless solicitor who was tied into the will ,had to employ another solicitor, a trust fund that was set up but no one could make head or tail of. It was horrendous but my point is unless the OP has a lot of funds it's not worth it as it's all so unbelievably expensive

Gosh. This is so difficult for you OP.
The hurt is so evident. Injustice is the most hurtful emotion.
I have no experience with wills, but in dealing with a divorce I can say that they will happily do any work you ask them to AS THEY ARE BEING PAID. I don't think this makes them crooks, it's just what they do for a living and sometimes judges will see things their clients way and sometimes not. There can't be any guarantees.
But I really do second what most others are saying to you.
I doubt the pain this has caused you will be eased by a victory in court, even if that happened. In fact, the pain will more likely be fuelled by the experience. It is only cold hard facts that will count - I can't give advice on what those are, but from my divorce experience things that were deeply significant to me where utterly irrelevant to the courts. For example in your case, who 'cared' emotionally, or physically, for your mother, what your past relationships were, probably the wishes of your father -will have no relevance. Possibly it would all hinge on wether she was coerced and what the evidence for that is - such as it is recorded that she 'wasn't' on medication?
Justice is not justice if you end up suffering more - and that includes financially. My divorce cost £10k solicitor's fees and £5k barrister fees
and that was with a low cost lawyer with me being very aware of what i could do myself to reduce their workload. As exH felt aggrieved and pursued every little detail in emails and phone calls, I expect his bill was considerably more.
Consider carefully what you stand to gain, on a financial basis, versus what you stand to lose, if the courts see things your way or theirs. This is the crux of it, not the personal injustice.
As some people have asked - it's not entirely clear if you do stand to inherit some amount from the will at present. I'm guessing that you do otherwise I expect you wouldn't have been able to make the caveat. The other party will still inherit, even if the will reverts. The caveat may put you in a much stronger position in terms of negotiating. I honestly think mediation is your best bet.

larrygrylls lol. He’s sat here with me so I showed it. He’s like me. Very pragmatic about his condition. We’re very lucky that he survived the initial ‘widow maker’ heart attack 5 years ago.

Fortunately he also knows how I adore my stepkids so isn’t overly concerned.

Thank you everyone who has gave me advice and I will definitely listen if my solocitor says I haven't got a chance. But at the minute I think I have quite a good chance. If my brother thought he hadn't done anything wrong he would have produced the will to show me when I first asked, instead my solicitor had to repeatedly ask for copies which will also look bad on them if/when it goes to court and also that they lied in a legal document.

Yes people are right in saying even if I win it wont change how my mother was or that she left that will but at east I will have overturned it so that will make me happy and also knowing I got justice for my father myself and my children.

I would also let this be a warning on here to others, if you jointly own a home but are with someone who has a child that is not yours make your home tenants in common. Because at least if they chose to leave your children out and leave it all to their own then they can only leave half not the whole lot you might love and trust your partner 100% but once you are dead and gine you have no way of ensuring they respect your wishes or things you agreed on while you were alive.

It makes me so very sad to think of my Dad working hard all his life to provide for his children including one that was not even his and support my mother who clearly did not love and respect him keeping her in a life of luxury to have his wishes trampled on and be so disrespected after death.

Oh OP, you are so not getting it. The court will not care that it took two goes for your brother to send the will. They don't do the 'that looks suspicious so I'll give the claimant a claim to the will.

They won't be jumping to the conclusion that he lied the way you are.

Your assessment of the evidence you have is totally biased based on your impression of the situation and all of it is based on your relationship history, morals, suspicions, all things that the courts disregard as quickly as you are desperate for them to consider.

@dontdisturbmenow actually they do look at that as my solicitor already told me so plus I posted on here earlier a quote from another legal site which states aa much. You are clearly not a solicitor or a judge and I doubt you have been through this yourself so please dont talk about something you know nothing about like you have got a clue.

They will see it as holding the case up. I posted this asking if anyone has been through similar to get an idea of what it's going to be like and timescales etc. And even if someone posts and says they have been through it (which a few people have) just because they might have been unsuccessful it doesn't necessarily mean I will be too as every case is different and I will wait to my solocitor says. So any one who has not personally been through it or works in the field as a solocitor or barrier or judge need not comment. But for everyone who has commented with kindness thank you.

Barrier=barrister

If you are not in the will there is no legal right to share it with to you.

It won't look bad on them on in court for not sharing it because they don't have to.

Ok. If your solicitor says you have a chance of success. Which they more than likely will. Ask them what kind of chance - 90%? 50%? 1%
I guarantee they will not answer that question. But do think what kind of answer would make you go ahead...

I doubt they will proceed with it if I have a less than 50% chance of success and they know I haven't got endless money so they will not take it on unless they are quite sure they are getting something out of it.

They will leave it to you to decide if you wish to proceed or not.

Most are sorted by mediation and agreement and never go to court because the risk of success is very low because it is based on evidence.

It makes me so very sad to think of my Dad working hard all his life to provide for his children

Thing is, his will DIDN'T provide for his children. If it had, and there are lots of ways it could have by-passed your mother (trust, severing tenancy etc), you wouldn't be in this situation now. Your father, naively, but legally, did not make provision for you when he could have done.

I work in this area and dh is a litigator and no way in hell would we pursue this in your shoes

Exactly titchy.

This is why I don’t understand why you’re using a past will as evidence.
If it was a legal standing will that gave you shares op, you’d not be needing to fight anything.

For example if I gave 75% of my house to my kids and my partner got 25% the partner cannot make a will giving their children 30% because they didn’t own 30%.

I don’t understand how you have a will but it’s written over?
You can’t do that?

@cabbageking yes my solocitor did say most cases settle out of court. So how many times of mediation does it usually take and how long does it take for it to get to mediation? Also if they was seriously planning on taking me court to remove the caveat how long would it take to get it to court on average?

^ which is why tbh, more info is needed.

But even with limited information it seems to be an unanimous don’t do it.

You have had posters with personal experience and several with extensive professional knowledge and experience give you advice and you are ignoring them.

It defeats the purpose of a will if a person can easily just go to court and overturn it as you seem to think you will.

@nicknacky I'm not saying it will be easy but I have to at least try.

OP
You have still not answered the question we have asked about the actual amounts you’re talking about. You’d get a much more informed response if you did.

It’s very naive of you to think the solicitor has your best interest at heart, which you clearly do. The solicitor is there to make as much money from you as possible. Your brother phoning a solicitor to write your dms will is absolutely ok and normal. Her wanting to make a new will is also normal.
Do you know how much you owe the solicitor at the moment? Has your brother made you an offer that you have refused? This’ll go against you, not him.
It’s no use getting stroppy with people who are saying you’ve no chance of overturning the will and coming out with a ton of cash!
Also remember that if your receiving and benefits these will be stopped if you do get a payout.

You don’t have the money to try.

Op I totally understand how you feel and I don't think you are greedy. In your position I would want revenge because morally you are right.
Please listen to the advice given and go for mediation, cutting off your nose to spite your face never works well!
I wish you luck because I genuinely sympathise with you but .......