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.

@florascotia2 I appreciate that people can be in painkillers and be able to make decisions bit I have since found out she was in even more medication than I thought. If she was able to make decisions on the amount she was on then why did they lie? Maybe because the solocitors would have asked a doctor to assess her and while yes she may have still been deemed to have capacity I believe they thought it a risk they weren't prepared to take. Also I believe the solicitors may be liable for not asking for capacity tests. Also why did they ask my brothers partner instead of my mum herself if she was on any drugs? People may be right that it's hard to fight but based on all these things I've stated I at least need to question it and find out if I have a case

In=on

Fight on! Jarndyce v Jarndyce

Deep down I know my mother would not have wanted this, I said she wasn't the most loving mum (which she wasn't) but Inkmow she did love us and when she was here she would often give me money and tell me to take a taxi home with my children rather than walk when we had been to see her. She wouldn't do that if she didn't love me and her grandchildren. I know she loved us she was just someone who found it hard to show but she wouldn't have done this if her own free will that I am sure of

Indeed I will @MsTSwift

TSwift is giving you a warning, not encouragement, that you're too blinded to see.

Children should all be treated equally except in exceptional circumstances. If someone wants to leave everything to one child then they should only have one. Why would a mother or father treat their children differently?!
This is where you are letting you personal judgement cloud what is actually defendable legally. Because you are wrong on this, very wrong. There are no rules at all that children should be treated equally, none at all.

The more you write the more you come across as entitled and maybe it is this attitude that got your mum to decide you didn't deserve more than you got.

Ironic that you left out until now that you got a decent sum because this if anything makes your claim even weaker. If your brother had coerced tour mum and your mum didn't have capacity to make decisions, surely this was his opportunity for her to leave everything to him. But she didn't, she left you something, and I expect your younger sibling too which would be more evidence that she knew what she was doing rather than the opposite.

So sad that you are considering using that money to fight your brother to have more, which again, would explain if anything your mother's concern with your attitude towards money.

OP you need to ask your solicitor, but as a previous poster has said, the level of competence is deliberately set very low, to make will-making possible for old/ill people. As far as I know, the solicitor only has to assess whether the person might be able to understand and make decisions relating to the will they are making, not to assess their overall mental functioning. And the simpler and more straightforward the will, the lower the level of capacity can be.

Don't forget that the solicitor spoke to your mother herself. Also as far as I know, the solicitor would have based their assessment of capacity on that interview with your mother more on than anything said by relatives. Also the solicitor would probably have seen many old/ill people in the course of their professional life, and would have been able to assess your mother's capabilities in comparison with other cases where capacity had been determined.

Fight on! Jarndyce v Jarndyce

Ilove this is a warning not encouragement. Its from bleak house (see link below)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarndyce_and_Jarndyce

Its about a will dispute that goes on for generations and consumes the whole of the estate until there is nothing left but huge legal fees.

Please take the blinkers off

OP also make sure anything you read online is applicable to the country you are in as there is a lot out there and it is irrelevant if you are in England and are reading cases from Scotland or articles talking about attorneys which suggests elsewhere. I notice that you keep gleaming snippets from things you have read to justify your case. You need to make sure you aren't taking comfort from cases or articles and advise that isn't applicable.

I was being extremely sarcastic

Have you had any legal advice? i had a problem with my late mother's estate. she had always said she would treat me and my brother equally but she went to my brother's accountant (he took her there) and made a will leaving nearly everything to him ( I was to get the "loose change" in her bank account) She also sold some assets and gave the proceeds to him, which he spent very quickly indeed. DM was very old and although she did not have a diagnosis of dementia had no understanding of what things cost or were worth.

She said to me at the time that she regretted what she had done but had not wanted to upset my brother by not doing what he wanted, she promised to put it right by making a new will but never got round to it.

For a year after her death I was very upset about this, got advice that it was a possibility the will could be challenged but of course my relationship with all that part of my family would be ruined, so I did nothing. It turns out that my brother has a number of quite serious health conditions, he is constantly at the doctors and has lots of hospital appointments. He can't really travel abroad or do much that is fun and struggles on to run a business that is a money pit. DH and I are now fairly comfortable with some funding coming in from other sources ( pension lump sum, a small inheritance, etc. ) I don't think my brother has benefited from his money grabbing ways, Karma, eh.

The upside to you absolutely destroying your relationship with your half brother is that he will definitely not leave a bean of his own money to his nephews. You will end up pissing the money you were left up the wall paying your legal fees and probably his top, while ensuring that he laughs all the way to the bank. Your children will high five you for this.

@Dontdisturbmenow so would you treat your children unequally and unfairly? (If you have more than one) and I never said it was a decent sum I said it was barely anything in relation to the while estate and what we should have got had things been some properly.

@juniper he is the one who has destroyed our relationship when he set out to steal my inheritance long before my mother died, he also treated me not very nice whilst she was dying and as I said this was before all the inheritance stuff came out. He only cares about himself

OP this is so sad. You are suffering and (please forgive me) getting further away from reality. As others have said, that risks your - and your children's - future. Please take care.

No one "stole your inheritance". If I understand you correctly, your father left everything to your mother. His choice. Maybe not fair to you, but perfectly legal. Your mother left more to your brother and less to you. Legally, she was entitled to do that, even if you don't think it fair.

There was no "inheritance" to steal. You may have expected or hoped to inherit more, but those hopes did not create an "inheritance". Unless there are very complicated (and often ancient) legal arrangements, we can only inherit what someone chooses to leave to us.

@astrabees I'm sorry I'm sorry to hear you went through something similar. Just wondering why you say that your relationship with your family would have been ruined if you challenged the will as mine are all encouraging me to fight it and cant believe he would stop so low. Surely they must have thought it was wrong? I am getting legal advice from a solicitor but I asked on here because I also wanted to hear from other people who have been through similar things and what it will be like.

I'm glad to hear it didn't do your brother any good. My family keep telling me it wont bring my brother any luck through his greed. I have heard he has a gambling problem also so maybe he has great debts which is why he made my mother do this

For all those saying I don't have evidence, I do as I have stated many times. I have evidence they called out the solicitors and then lied about her being on drugs. Even if she still would have been deemed to have capacity on those drugs the fact they called them and lied about the being on drugs is evidence of undue influence. Because otherwise they would gave been honest about medications then if the solicitor needed further proof or capacity tests from a doctor so be it, they wouldn't care if they wasn't setting out to get something.

The fact is they wasn't prepared to take a chance incase it was said she didn't have capacity and then it wouldn't have been made.

The fact is they wasn't prepared to take a chance incase it was said she didn't have capacity and then it wouldn't have been made

That is not fact, that is supposition. Your interpretation of the information you have/ believe you have.

I'm sorry you're struggling with your mother's choices, but you've posted nothing to suggest they were anything other than her choices, albeit painful ones for you.

I'm sorry for your loss

Holy shit. I’ve read it all

Robbing you blind?!? How did you earn the money they are robbing you of?!?

What job did you do that earnt the money that’s being stolen from you?

Entitlement is out of this world.

It’s like the plot of a bad novel 🤔

OP no. It's evidence of their untruthfulness (if you have a witness who will swear that's what they said). And it may well arouse suspicion. But by itself it simply isn't hard evidence - proof - that they exerted undue influence.

As far as I know, persuading someone to change their will is lawful; forcing them or using fraud isn't. But the problem is always how to prove it. The only person who can say for sure is dead.

This might be of interest:
www.ellisjones.co.uk/blog/article/challenging-a-will-undue-influence--wills

I'm really sorry you are in this situation OP as I also lost out on an inheritance but realised I couldn't afford either the finances involved nor the emotional stress it would cause to contest it. Am talking about £600k+ 10 years ago.

I have heard he has a gambling problem

If this is the case then even more reason for you not to contest the Will. He will have spent all the money and you'll be left with the bills to pay yourself. Please hear the advice PPs are stating here.

OP

Just a point about capacity

A doctor is only required to assess for capacity in this situation if the solicitor has concerns regarding capacity. The solicitor is perfectly capable of assessing capacity to write a will - it's their job.

The fact that a doctor was not requested to assess capacity is not 'evidence' of undue influence - rather it is an indication that the solicitor's assessment was that it was not required. Whether ir not she was on medication is irrelevant.