my brothers contesting my mothers will i have a question

[masterofdoomv1]

he has claimed that i bullied our mother to leave me the house and claims that there was a previous will saying he was to get half the house and me half but i wasnt told anything about this even if true he claims this will was made in the late 1990s and since then he had no relationship with our mother until two years ago when he became ill due to drinking and needed a liver transplant he was kept informed before this of our mothers and fathers falling healing due to illnessess they both had but didnt bother.

his lawyer is asking for details of gp social work and carers so they can check records and i wondered if this takes weeks or if it takes months as i feel like a nervous wreck being there for our our parents for the last two years of theyre life which was difficuilt and not getting any support from family members now theres money involved theyre interested all of a sudden and im tired of the whole thing it seems to be constant

@steff13

I believe if your parents lived in Scotland, they can't disinherit one of their children. But that's just based on what I've read on MN and some googling. So if they lived in Scotland, I would imagine whether he was left anything at all is going to be key.

That’s wrong. I think a PP even mentioned “moveable” assets. You can’t disinherit those (which is why the 6 way split on the £30K cash isn’t just mum trying to be fair and equal!) but the rules for property are different.

You are not obliged to answer the Solicitor’s letter or give any details. If your brother really wants this, then he will have to get his solicitor to apply to the Court. This is even more expensive.

I would do nothing.

@Onlyhuman123

sorry, no advice and it's horrible that you're in this situation but why is it that these family members bugger off during the years preceding death and then all of a sudden come out the woodwork when parents die and EXPECT their fair share of any estate proceeds?! it beggars belief. If I had NC with my parents, I wouldn't expect a single penny from their estate or dream of enquiring as to whether I was a beneficiary because I imagine I would have had a reason to go NC ergo, lost entitlement to anything?!

Pam Ayres wrote a hilarious and cutting poem in the 70s about that called "Where there's a will... there's a sobbing relation"

Where did your mother make the will.........England or Scotland?

How long ago was the will made?

In Scotland children are automatically entitled to a share in moveable estate ( cash, bank accounts etc), as I recall it's an equal share in half the moveable estate if there's no surviving spouse.
So it's half the bank accounts divided amongst children that can't be willed to anyone else. So if it's only £1 in the bank 50p goes between all children by law. The other 50 p is the deceased to will to anyone they want. This is as I recall from our solicitor explaining as we made our wills.
Heritable assets such as house etc can be willed as the person sees fit

Glad to see that this will was drawn up by a solicitor with the signature being independently witnessed. That will be good evidence on your behalf, as solicitors have a duty to satisfy themselves that the person making the will knows what she's doing and wants to do it. If there was any sign that your mother was scared of you or unhappy about what she was doing, they should have picked that up.

Disinheriting 6 out of 7 of your kids though… bloody hell!

Did they leave him anything at all. In my experience (well observed others experience) if the person contesting was left nothing and is likely to need state help/benefits now or in the future then there’s a strong chance they could be successful. The state doesn’t want to pay out benefits to someone if there is a potential for family money instead. Anecdotal I know but I would expect this to be long and drawn out and potentially costly both sides.

@Cocomarine

Disinheriting 6 out of 7 of your kids though… bloody hell!

How many kids were there? I can't make it out. Where does it say 7?

Inheritance isn’t dependent on how much help a person gives their parent/s??

Yes there’s a moral obligation but it’s not a legal obligation in order to then inherit. I think tbh he probably is entitled to something .

It maybe cheaper for you to actually accept that and see if you can come to an agreement which will save you both legal expenses

Moveable assets in Scottish wills are 1/3 of cash etc. this is then divided equally between the children who can choose to claim it or relinquish it or choose to retain a claim for 10 years. If they don’t take it it goes back to the main estate and divided as per the will. When my dad died I got a letter from the solicitor telling me what I could to claim and those three options.

YABU

He has every right to contest it, especially if what he says about previous Wills is true , and if it involves a significant sum of money it could be a pivotal moment in his life (or he could drink it all away).

Just because he contests it doesn't mean he will win.

You need to seperate out the time and care you CHOSE to give to your parents, from the dividing up of assets now happening. He was there son too afterall. You should not have cared for them with the anticipation of financial gain as inheritence is never guaranteed, and even when you do get it probate can be a long drawn out procedure.

And actually if ops parents were in Scotland this would have happened when the father died if he had cash etc over an amount even if everything was left to his wife.

@dumdumduuuummmmm it’s on another of OP’s threads - she’s posted several times recently about claims. That’s not a criticism of posting again, as this post is a specific question.

I searched not to trip anyone up, just because I don’t find the OP clear, and because it’s one of those situations where a little detail goes a long way - a will written with a lawyer and two independent witnesses 4 years before death, for example, which is the case here.

I find it odd that the will wrote all 6 brothers - the OP describes one (maybe two, it’s confusing) who sounds awful. But… we’re only hearing one side and if you write out 6/7 children then the alcoholic son isn’t the common dominator in that situation!

But, if the will was written whilst in sound mind and the two independent witnesses didn’t think the OP’s mother was under duress, then ultimately it was her decision.

I’m curious whether (as this was decided well before OP’s father died) her father’s will also - had it been mother who died first - favoured 1 child over 6 others.

I have a sister in a large family who lives in parents’ home and cares for them - though it’s not personal care level. Her opinion is that though it’s her home, she’s benefited from that (free accommodation in her) and she feels she has no more claim on the house morally than any other sibling.

Please follow the advice given and see preferable the lawyer who drew up your mum's will and follow their advice.

I would also ask if brother can be responsible for paying any costs incurred.

Sorry I didn't finish what I was going to say earlier. Wills are a nightmare even if they're straightforward. I lost my Dad 6 weeks ago and I'm mid-probate now with an uncontested will - stressful enough! Sorry for your loss and all the hassle, OP.

I used to work in the Chancery Division of the High Court, the very fact that sucessfull contestion of wills appears in the press is because sucess is very rare.
It is eye wateringly expensive to undertake this with the prospect of little sucess and no "no win no fee" companies will take on this work.
You really do have to have very clear evidence of coercian, very difficult to prove without witnesses and medical evidence,
A lot in this case depends of the opinions/attitudes of the rest of the family concerned.

I think tbh he probably is entitled to something

Unless he is in Scotland, he is entitled to whatever the parent wished him to have, which in this case is nothing.

The sense of entitlement people have about other people’s money never ceases to amaze me.

thirdelephant all my mothers sons (six including myself) were to get an equal share of our mothers savings (£30000) after lawyers fees were paid - the lawyer helping me with sorting out estate so its not like they were getting nothing and theres only one who took issue with this

blanc in scotland

@masterofdoomv1

thirdelephant all my mothers sons (six including myself) were to get an equal share of our mothers savings (£30000) after lawyers fees were paid - the lawyer helping me with sorting out estate so its not like they were getting nothing and theres only one who took issue with this

That’ll teach me to assume MNers are female! That’s why I was confused whether there were 6 or 7 of you!

Did your father also disinherit the other 5?

Why did none of them have a good relationship with your parents?

fulmire although i lived with my parents when the solicitor came with independant witnessess for the will to be made i made a point of not being present to give them privacy they could have written will however they wanted i even advised them to spend as much money as they could before they passed away while they could and as for house they were under no obligation to leave it to me id appreciate it if they did but i didnt want them feeling they had too

there were different issues coc one got into a lot of trouble when he was younger mugging an old woman stealing cars etc another lied a lot still does the one whose disputing the will drank a lot had to get a liver transplant because of that was bringing strangers home he would be so drunk hed come home 3 or 4 in morning making noise so drunk hed go into my room or my parents room instead of his own there were arguments and the brother chose to leave but took no responsabillity said parents were forcing him to leave as for other two that was my mothers doing they were half brothers same mother different fathers they stayed with theyre father when my mother and theyre father seperated my mother didnt keep in touch which i dont defend so fault on both sides

Cyw2018 and that attitude annoys me that its brought up about the rights of other sons they were all informed of theyre mothers ill health yet made the decision to sit back and do nothing where was theyre duty of care for theyre parents yet now theyre mothers passed away shes obliged to give them thousands?

I don’t think you can talk about duty of care towards parents, when your mother didn’t keep in touch with two them!
There’s a lot going on with your family.

Which doesn’t change the situation on
inheritance, as the will was drawn up years ago correctly.