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.

Council tax will still be payable. Utilities still need to be connected, if the house freezes pipes can burst, without electricity the alarm won't work, without water loos etc will start going brown and smelling. Insurance needs to be paid etc. Honestly, engage your brain.

My Mum died in March 2018, sale completed on the house in November 2019. In that time, I have had to pay for house insurance, electricity, oil for heating and rates. Even tidying up the garden myself every few months (the house was 2 hours drive away) it was starting to look shabby and uncared for. Guttering needed clearing and outside paving needed power washed. An unoccupied house still needs to be maintained.

And as the executor, I paid these costs, I can claim them back from the estate. The solicitor is still sorting this out but my sister who cleared off to another country years ago, and quite frankly didn't give a toss is querying and holding things up....

Empty houses need to be heated- normally to a minimum of 15 degrees. To prevent pipes freezing and bursting and to prevent damp.
Empty houses need at minimum buildings insurance- possibly contents insurance if the possessions are also in dispute.
Empty houses for more then 6 months or after probate is granted are normally subject to council tax which needs to be paid.
Empty houses need to be inspected regularly inside and out- the executor of a will/ their representative can claim expenses from the estate for this.
Water rates would still need to paid
Electricity in many cases still needs to be paid.
The direct debits from your mums bank accounts will be changed into the name of executor of and the money will come from the estate.
You will more then likely be accountable for these costs due to the caveat preventing sale.

OP, please don't let this take over your life and consume you.

The parents of someone close to me made mirror wills, leaving everything to be equally divided among their children. As soon as the father died, the greediest of the siblings talked their mother into reducing everyone else's inheritance, in order to leave a large share to the grandchildren (the greedy one's children).

The others are disappointed, but they accept that it's their mum's money and she can do what she likes with it. The greedy one is the best-paid person in the family, but is never satisfied. The others, I think, have happier lives.

Also why does an empty house need heating?

To prevent damp and burst pipes. The executor is responsible for the house and can be sued by the beneficiaries if it is damaged and this affects the value.

This happened with my ex dp uncle, the family argued for so long over nothing, the house was just left to decline, a pipe burst and the house was flooded, lots of stuff was damaged, including the ceiling coming down. Noone could be bothered to sort it out and it had to be sold in that state at about £70k less than it was originally valued at.

I can’t believe this thread keeps rolling on just rehashing the same old points.
Op listen to what you are being told by the lawyers on here as they are the only ones who are correct and I speak from a position of having seen an even stronger case within my own family where all the legal advice was any challenge to the will would fail.

The drugs your mum were on is a red herring as strong pain killer drugs don’t mean you are no longer of sound mind. My late husband was on a lot of pain control drugs including two pain relief drivers and he was still of sound mind and making financial decisions.

so your share is already diminished and will continue to decrease the longer it goes on.

That depends if it was a set sum or a percentage. If the former, it will not decrease. Only the residue or any percentage gifts will decrease.

Yep I’ve been on morphine, knew exactly what I was doing.

If it was a set sum though and the costs incurred were higher than could reasonably be expected as a result of the OPs actions would she still have to pay them from her share, thereby diminishing it?

Where was he all the tears before?! Whilst I was visiting her all the time and phoning her every day.

It doesn't matter. You don't get an inheritance as a reward for being good. You get it if the testator wants you to.

You have only two things you need to focus on:

1. was the will technically valid - i.e. signed and witnessed correctly
2. was your mother of sound mind when she made the will?

Both of these are likely to be fine since it was drawn up by a solicitor. The first - it would be major negligence by a solicitor to finalize a will and not have it signed correctly.

And the latter - well, the solicitor made this assessment and your only role is to try to show they were mistaken. Just saying she was on drugs is not enough. My dad has cancer, he's on drugs, he's probably not far from death, but he can absolutely make his own decisions about everything from having a cuppa to changing his will. Drugs per se are not enough to say you lack capacity.

would she still have to pay them from her share, thereby diminishing it?

She might be ordered to pay them but it's nothing to do with her inheritance. It might be more than her inheritance!

Look the OP is delusional. She thinks she can just keep holding up probate at no cost to her. It’s been explained time and time again.

Oh I get it wont change the actual inheritance I was just clarifying there was a chance she would be ordered to pay them so she wouldn't necessarily receive the amount she expected as there would be a price to pay.

Apologies if I have already missed this but what is your other siblings view? Are they wishing to pursue this with you and make themselves equally liable for potential costs or are they wanting to accept what they have been given?

I think that there a lot of really judgemental opinions on here that come over as unfair to OP. However I understand that

1. OP suspects that her brother had something to do with persuading his will writer to remove OP from the will.
2. That at present she has not benefitted from the will and won't unless there is an agreement between the parties or a legal solution
3. OP doesn't strike me as a bad person. Her opinion that parents should treat their children equally will be mirrored by many other people (unless for example a child disowns a parent etc). And it is very sad that many parents do not discuss their will wishes with their children and their reasons for their decision as this dialogue would make things infinitely easier to understand.

As it stands there are questions to be answered. I hope OP gets a good resolution.

In your shoes OP, I would save my sanity and walk away
Hopefully Karma will deliver untold misery into their lives.
As one of 4 siblings, my living parents are really quite well off, businesses, properties, savings etc etc
Those who married into the family have shown their true colours in recent years....absolutely vile. They have won over the golden goose. Having heard what they really think of my family besides their future inheritance.....one is staying married to my sibling even though all love has gone.
The lies and deceit has ripped my family apart. I walked away. I would prefer to remember my family as they used to be before the gold diggers arrived.
They are in for a truly huge windfall, I've made it clear I want nothing...they can all choke on it.

Greed is without doubt the most revolting trait a person can have.
I hope their lives ( the gold diggers) are full of unspeakable pain and misery.

Just walk away OP and let them "choke" on it...literally!!

@Barbarella1 OP doesn't strike me as'delusional'. What a vile thing to say.

Op, you have still managed to avoid the question everyone is asking.
What is the value of your mother's estate, and how much did she leave you and your other sibling?

@VanGoghsDog I'm really sorry to hear about your Dad. It's such an awful illness and you have my greatest sympathies.

A will can be tested on other things than lack of capacity and if it was witnessed correctly such as
Undue influence and lack of knowledge and approval.

I didn't mean I should get it for being good. You misunderstood. I meant he was never there and only came and swooped into look after her when she was already at deaths door. I think we should all just get an equal share regardless of if he was around or not (as I said ealoercall children should be treated fairly and equally)

@Chocolate50
The OP is deluded if she thinks that the will is going to be overturned because she 'thinks' her dm was coerced, unless she has absolute proof that coercion took place.
From what she's told us, she doesn't have that proof.

What I meant was he came and took her to look after her so they could both manipulate and coerce her on her deathbed, if he was such the caring son as everyone (well not everyone) on her is making out he would have been coming regularly before she was literally at deaths door

@Ilovechinese
My MIL has just passed away, and she has left £20000 to be shared equally between my DH and her brother. For the last 20 years only my DH and myself has helped to look after her as his DB lives very far away. This has cost us in time and money over the years. Do you think we should have more than his DB?

No what’s vile is someone who says that they don’t care if a legal challenge eats up all the inheritance.

She’s delusional because despite legal professionals explaining probate law she’s taking advice from people like you who do not know what they are talking about. Are you legally qualified? I doubt it.

That at present she has not benefitted from the will and won't unless there is an agreement between the parties or a legal solution

@Chocolate50 the OP was included in the will. The issue is that she thinks she is entitled to more of the estate than her mum left her.