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.

If an appearance is entered
If the caveator is served with a warning and wants their caveat to remain in place they can enter an appearance at the Probate Registry. This will have the effect of sealing the caveat and means that it can then only be removed by consent between the caveator and the person who issued the warning, or by order of the Court. The appearance is entered by post and must be served on the person warning the caveat.

www.contesting-wills.co.uk/news-articles/how-remove-caveat.html

what is fair is not the same as what is legal. As pointed out, it is unfair on you. That doesn't however translate into a right to a legal remedy

@Ilovechinese take notice of posters that are clearly trying to bully you. @Barbarella1 what is wrong with you? It just looks like you are attempting to goad the OP with your silly preconceived prejudices of what you think she has or hasn't got in terms of evidence. It's not really your place to prod and push for information is it? she's given information in the pages of this thread. Either take the time to read it or stop writing these disturbing posts.

@Ilovechinese sorry meant take notice of posters trying to bully you!

@upstartcrones if he refuses mediation then he will either have to take me court or the caveat will remain in place forever

@Ilovechinese no notice! Sorry

Oh god. You've received a warning and entered an appearance. I hope you've got thousands to cover his legal costs, because you'll already be liable for those.

@Chocolate50 thank you and I wont as they clearly dont know what they are talking about. Pretending they have years of experience in this field yet clearly dont understand how a caveat works

Not to you @gobbynorthernbird

I know of a situation where it has taken 25 years, a lot of stress and a lot of money to get a will sorted out. Not a coercive influence situation, more the case that the solicitor writing the will made a mess of it and it has taken that long to reach a sensible arrangement where one party wasn’t seriously disadvantaged by what the other wanted to happen.

@gobbynorthernbird surely my solicitor wouldn't have advised me to put in an appearance if they thought my case was hopeless?

@blueberryporridge so it is possible that solicitors can mess up then. On what grounds did they mess it up if you dont mind me asking?

Also my mum wouldn't care if I said that to her if she was here she would just laugh and say she never wanted any so it wouldn't bother her.

This is the sad and painful reality for you, isn't it @Ilovechinese. it's the grinding realisation that your mum wasn't who you wanted her to be. Hence it probably didn't actually need your brother to coerce her into anything. She didn't care that much, so to your admission, she wasn't of the mindset to bother about fairness between her childen, which would ordinarily feature in a fully-functioning loving mother/child relationship (as you have stated).

I wish it was possible to offer any sort of resolution for you. Whatever the eventual outcome, none of this will heal the gaping wound of your mother not caring about you the way you wished she would. No money will neutralise that hurt.

It's all too easy for people to glibly say don't let it consume you, walk away etc etc. Easier said than done.

It would be worth considering seeking professional counselling support - you are in an emotionally fragile state and are currently living off the adrenaline to survive the forthcoming legal action, if you choose to take it. When that's over, you'll come down to earth with a crash. You need someone there to catch you, so it would be advisable to seek the support in advance to give you strength to carry on, whatever the outcome. You could start with your GP and see what they advise.

He has already asked you to remove the caveat as required.
He can now send a warning to basically put up or shut up and give court your reasons or the caveat is lifted. This takes 14 days.

If you plan on leaving it in place long term he could just move into the property, change the locks and live in it. Then he could rent his property out, be financially boosted and take you to court.

You see whilst you think this will hurt him actually it could be water off a ducks back.

I'm assuming you can't actually receive your share either whilst the caveat is in place. So that might be going towards the upkeep of a house he is living in.

OP, my sister was left pretty much everything in my parents' will. The rest of us were left around 1% of her entire inheritance. It pained me I think the most...she is already independently wealthy, as are my other siblings, whereas I live in rented accommodation and have struggled for over twenty years with mental illness. Worst of all...I absolutely loved my family home that I couldn't bear not being part of me any longer. I felt awful for feeling this way as I love my sister..all my sisters. But I am telling you, you have to let this go.

This will destroy you. Leave the past behind because you can never go back. We can only move forwards. My sister who was left the inheritance actually reached out to me and offered me a wonderful gift that will lift me out of poverty, why? Because I was silent. I never once complained. Don't let this be bigger than it needs to be.

Reach out to your brother. You had a strong relationship once. Good luck OP. I understand your pain. Please don't add to it.

The costs order against someone who issued a caveat can be eye watering.

As for you chocolate get a grip. She’s asked For advise and her evidence is pathetic.

Advice

I’m not pretending anything. If you think I’m a liar I’m more than happy to provide MN evidence of my experience.

@barbarella1 if you are not lying then I apologise but you said the probate office can just take it off after so long after I have already told you I put in an appearance. Also if you are a solicitor do you speak to your clients sho have been through bereavement the way you are speaking to me on here?

Who*

Yep gobby.

@cabbageking he's done that and OP has entered an appearance, so the caveat is sealed.
@Barbarella1 it's a shame OP didn't mention the appearance much sooner, just the caveat. The advice would have been quite different.

@Ilovechinese, I sat at my desk for an hour on Friday whilst my colleague at the next desk tried desperately to persuade a client to discontinue a court action. The client won't, and is potentially going to be found to be fundamentally dishonest (given the contents of the trial bundle) and fully liable for both side's costs. The client will end up bankrupt, but my colleague can only warn the client as to the risks. I can imagine you behaving in a similar fashion.

@Barbarella oh please