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'm sorry to keep harping on but what is the difference between what you have been given, and what you were expecting? Even just a rough figure will help people give better advice; if the difference is what an average court battle would cost, it's not really worth it

^^
This!

@matildathecat thank you for your advice. What kind of insurance would cover legal fees and would it be to do with any legal matter? Do any solicitors do no win no fee to do with wills?

Was the legal battle you went through In the same area? (Though I know solicitors are expensive in any area)

Put on a reasonable head and start discussions with your brother about what is known and common knowledge within the family.

Write down your fathers wishes about sharing and consider times when this was shared with others, what was his ethos on life and family,
Write down times he supported and helped his family to evidence his actions were family based.
Write down comments made by your mother about the future, when she spoke of any grand children and their future with others present.
What did she clearly infer and can be evidenced.
What did she know about everyone's financial situation.
What had she spent on anyone that she would consider part of their share. Had she paid off bills, made loans etc that she would consider as a pay off.
Did she treat everyone equally or was their any clear division.
How does each sibling view their position within the family.
Have you found out if the brother has been left everything or it has been left " to do as he feels best?"

My OH inherited all his fathers estate because the other siblings had been bailed out previously over the years. He knew no money would go to the grandchildren and he trusted OH to do the right thing.

Doesn't mean he didn't love them but in his mind he was leaving a level field. Did the other siblings view this in the same mind? No

It depends on your relationship with your brother and how well you can reason with him and get him to review good times and any continuing relation with you or other siblings.

Talking sensibly with him will get a quicker outcome than any court action. Your anger should not be aimed at him because this will ultimately backfire on you especially if you are incorrect about any pressure being brought to bear.

The will becomes a public document later on but he does not have to share it with you now. If he is lying it will come out later.
If I were him I would pass it over to a solicitor to deal with at @ 800. if there is a house transfer. He only needs to provide the solicitor with estimates of the estate and can then step back. The cost will come out of the estate as will the funeral costs. You may wish to negotiate something for your child if your relationship with your brother is fractured? He is their uncle and may be more inclined to put something aside for their future perhaps?

You are more likely to lose everything with your present attitude because I wouldn't wish to negotiate with any angry person making accusations about me. It does you no favours.

Step back, breathe deeply, write down what is known and can be evidenced and meditate. This is you best approach as court cases seldom go the other way.

When/ if you go to court not of the above suggestions are evidence.

if the court overturns it as invalid I will know with quite certainty that she was put under undue influence or lacked capacity as so many on here have said they are si hard to get overturned so they wont do it without being sure she was made to do it and then I will know this was never what she really wanted and can grieve properly and try to move on with a piece of mind
This makes complete sense and can totally understand how you could desperately want to get to that position to move on.

But what you are stuck with is acknowledging that sometimes, truths just can't ever be reached.

How do you intend to evidence that she was coerced? That's the only important part that is missing. You are coming up with things, but they are all vague assumptions. Proving that she was on a cocktail of drugs when she signed it when you were told that she wasn't is in no way proving that she wasn't capable to make decision.

The fact that she used your brother's lawyer doesn't prove anything, nor that it was witnessed by his girlfriend. It might make it a bit more possible that she was coerced, but it doesn't prove that she was.

So what evidence do you plan on putting forward to build your case?

OP I don't want to say too much for reasons of privacy but the bones of it are as follows.

The wife pre-deceased the father. Large family. Complex dynamics where the family was split into 2 factions. Sibling group A reasonably close/civil to each other and their father with one in particular being very close to the father and Group B very close to each other but low/non contact with their father and group A.

When the father died it was found he had made a new will after his wife had passed leaving all his estate to the child he was closest to (and had been largely his sole career in his final 5 years).

Upshot was that group b and one sibling from group A felt this was unfair and sought to challenge the will stating all the estate should be spilt equally on the basis that the beneficiary (in the guise of career) had coerced the father.

Mediation tried and failed (offers made and rejected) and £££ spent on solicitors/specialist fees.

The challenge never got to court because the costs mounted to a point that was unsustainable (many tens of thousands of pounds) and the legal challenge withdrawn.

Result: 3 years of stress and acrimony where ultimately nothing got resolved to anyone's satisfaction (other than the solicitors accountant).

I had some legal cover under my home insurance. £50k. They had to investigate in order to agree to pay. That amount was a fraction of the eventual bill.

Sorry I have no idea if any such insurance (if you have any) would cover this situation.

My claim was a different area of law. It took five years to get to court and 6.5 years to settle in full. The legal bills from both sides were almost certainly higher than the value of the claim. It was settled by the defence’s legal insurance.

Stay away. It will never make you feel better about any of this and might well make you feel much worse. Sorry.

What you’ve got to understand though

Is morals and legality are two very different things

Morally you’d think she’d of left you the money

Legally. She doesn’t have too

Morally. You feel because she met your father. Who paid the mortgage. His wishes should be respected

Legally. His wishes WERE respected. She just didn’t choose to do what he STATED he would do..

Morally. You feel your children should be owed the money

Legally. They have no rights over other people’s money

Morally. Maybe you should of been left it

Legally. You weren’t......

Two different things

Also. The lady who stated she had legal aid. Did you read she had to surely 1000 per month on top?

@Myimaginarycathasfleas the op has already said she was included in the will, just didn't receive the third she was expecting. The fact that she hasn't said anything more on it makes me think she received a decent enough chunk but wants the full amount 'promised' by the father

@hadenoughofthisall it was nowhere near what I would consider a decent amount, not even a qaurter if what we was all supposed to get.

But you got money. So you were thought about and included in the will.

Don’t throw that money down the drain.

Clearly not thought of enough though either that or I was robbed!

To be honest, no, maybe she didn’t think enough of you. And that will obviously hurt but giving yourself years of stress and causing you to be bankrupt won’t change that.

Create your own financial future, don’t push for someone’s past to pay your future.

So you weren't left out then?

How much were you all left OP?

I’ve recently settled a legal matter. It wasn’t to do with a will but we wanted justice for a wrong much the same as you do.

The difference is as I gently explained in an earlier post is that a moral wrong isn’t the same as a legal one. I also thought with my head rather than let my emotions take over. I could have gone to court and had 2-3 times more money than I was awarded in the settlement but if I lost I would get absolutely nothing and I could not do that to my family.

In the nicest possible way I really don’t think you are doing what is best for your family. You are hurting which is understandable but you will hurt a whole lot more if you pursue this. The money was split in accordance with your mother’s wishes whether you consider it fair is irrelevant all that matters is whether it was a legal will and to disprove that based on what you say would be very difficult.

Wait

So you did get money from the will?!? Just not what you considered enough?

Oh.....that’s a whole new ballgame.

They are robbing me blond and I will not lay down and roll over without a fight! Yes its morally wrong and I also have evidence against them as I already said but need my solicitor to go through it all and give me her opinion. I appreciate everyone on here who has told me about their experiences too and yes from what most if you say it will be a hard fight but I know I will regret it if I dont do this

Blind*

No one has robbed you. You have received an inheritance and she clearly decided to financially reward the family members that cared for her until she died, rightly or wrongly.

You might not think so @Nick but I disagree

You are coming across as greedy now. You have made out throughout this thread that you were completely left out but that’s not the case at all.

I may as well have been for what it's worth and as I said the greedy one is the one who made her do it and leave it all to them and if it was her choice as some are saying it may be (and I cant truly know 100% though I definitely think they influenced her decision else why wouldn't she gave made it before living with them?!) Then if they were not greedy they would see it's not right and offer a more fair amount even if just to the children

Is it really greedy to want what's right and just and I just want a better life for my children you know what I mean? My brother doesn't even have any children so god only knows why he wants it needs all that money.

It=or

I haven't read this whole thread but thought I would give you my experience.
I have actually been on the other side of your dispute. My Grandad died and left the majority of his estate (his house) three ways between my mum, myself and my sister.
He had one other daughter who he left £25,000 to. However, she had disowned him and my family 10 years before his death, she didn't come to his funeral or come to say goodbye to him when he was dying in hospital. He sent her a cheque for £100 in the post every birthday and Christmas she never cashed any of them in. So he changed his will. My Aunty contested it. She threw many allegations our way none of them true and many of them could be proven not to be true. I would have fought her to the bitter end if I had to but reluctantly we came to an agreement outside of court and she didn't get exactly what she wanted (half of his whole estate) but she did get more than what he left to her in his will.
A solicitor would have spoken to your mum alone and questioned her on whether this was exactly what she wanted to do and she would have also had to provide a letter from her gp to say that she was in the right state of mind and had the mental capacity to change her will (at least this is what my Grandad had to do to change his.)
IMO the whole point of wills are to give your final wishes on where you want your estate to go. Whether that be right or wrong, fair or unfair she had the right to choose who she left her money to. I'm sorry you are hurting but please bare that in mind.