How can you find out the terms of a will that you may want to contest?

[erebus]

The inevitable 'merged' families problem!
I am 99% certain that the person concerned will have made a will. She passed away very recently.

How and where can I find out what that will states? Unfortunately, asking the DD of the deceased is not an option!

Tia

You would need to check the info on the link in my first post to find out about doing a search, or ring your local probate registry for guidance. They are usually pretty helpful with practical questions like that. It is several years since I did a search, but I think you just fill in a short form and return it with the fee to the probate registry. Give them a call and find out.

You may want to post separately for advice from a conveyancer regarding the property - I am a bit clueless about searches in respect of unregistered land as I haven't done anything like that since my law school days. Are you sure you did the correct search to begin with? Sorry, not saying you are dim, just that you might want to ask someone on here who knows more about property issues to tell you whether there is any other reason why you got no result. I think there is a search you can do for unregistered land but can't tell you about it as I can't remember!

Oh, and re: length of time from death to grant would normally be anything up to a year. Where there is a very large, valuable or complex estate it can take longer than a year, but the year after death is commonly referred to as 'the executor's year' as it often takes a while to sort out the valuation of the estate and get all the info needed to make the application (also any inheritance tax payable must be dealt with before you can apply for the grant).

I had just assumed that probate had been granted, and that as it was an intestacy then a solicitor's inpit would have been needed even more.

If a grant of representation hasn't been taken out for B's estate then an inhertiance act claim can still be brought.

Emsyj is right - fill in a short form and pay £5 to conduct a search.

There is no time limit for getting a grant.

This thread became a little confused last night. In an attempt to simplify:

D & A may be able to make a claim against whoever administered B's estate if:

• B made a will which left something to them and which was deliberately ignored, or
• B did not make a will but the estate was not distributed correctly in accordance with intestacy rules

However, it will be up to D & A to prove maladministration which will be difficult after all this time.

D & A may have been able to make a claim against B's estate under the Inheritance Act if:

• B made a will which did not leave anything to them, or
• B did not make a will and the rules of intestacy meant they would not receive adequate financial provision

When considering B's estate under the rules of intestacy, remember that, if the family home was owned jointly by B & S as joint tenants, it will have passed directly to S on B's death without forming part of his estate.

If there has not been any grant relating to B's estate it may still be possible to bring an Inheritance Act claim. However, Inheritance Act claims must be started within 6 months of the grant. Even if it is still possible to bring an Inheritance Act claim against B's estate I doubt it would succeed.

Finally, if S has not left anything to D & A they can make an Inheritance Act claim against S's estate. However, I doubt it would succeed. The courts would not be interested in arguments about whether or not S's will was fair. The only question would be whether S had made adequate financial provision. Given that D & A are adults and presumably financially independent it is likely that the courts would decide that they didn't need any provision from S's estate.

So I think the only chance D & A have of getting anything would be if they can show that B's estate has not been administered correctly.

Sorry - for "only chance" read "best chance". Without knowing all the details it is impossible to completely rule out an Inheritance Act claim, but it is difficult to succeed with a claim for adult children who are financially independent.

I think the point I was trying to make (not very clearly, thanks to sleep deprivation!) is that it seems highly possible that B's estate was never administered at all - but may need to be now if the house was held in his sole name, which would need D and A to be involved.

It is unusual in my (admittedly fairly limited) experience for an elderly couple to own a property jointly, particularly where (as is the case here) the husband owned the property before the marriage. It is of course possible that they arranged to hold the property jointly at some time after they married, but at first glance it is perhaps more likely that S simply moved in and the house remained in B's name. It would be interesting to find out if this is the case. If B's estate was never dealt with, D and A would still be entitled to their share of it - do you agree prh47bridge ?

Probably not under the intestacy rules, unless it was worth alot.

Their claim would have to be under the Inheritance act. Don't know enough about that - ie whether their reasonable expectation to inherit would count for anything.

Looking back at the description of the post, I agree that there is a strong possibility that the house was not in joint names.

If B's estate was never dealt with, D & A would indeed still be entitled to their share assuming B has left them something or they are entitled to something under intestacy rules. They could also still launch an Inheritance Act claim if B has not made reasonable financial provision for them.

Resolution see the OP's previous comments that B's estate would have been worth more than £125k at the time of his death. If that valuation is correct, D and A would have an entitlement on intestacy.

Under the Inheritance Act the court can consider "any other matter, including the conduct of the applicant or any other person, which in the circumstances of the case the court may consider relevant".

In Robinson v Fernsby and Scott-Kilvert [2003] EWCA Civ.1820 the deceased had two children, a son and a daughter. The son had died leaving a grandson. The deceased's will split the residue of her estate equally between her daughter and her grandson. The deceased had said that she wanted her daughter to receive a larger share of the estate than her grandson. The Court of Appeal decided that the judge had been correct in taking the deceased's views into account but that he had also been correct in deciding not to interfere with the will. So any expectation D & A had may count for something but wouldn't necessarily be enough to mean they are entitled to anything.

Of course, if the OP is correct that the estate was worth more than £125k at the time of death they would have been entitled to something under intestacy rules so we don't need to worry about the Inheritance Act.

I doff my hat to emsyj (what does that stand for??) and prh for setting me right.

Emma Jane!!! Emsy is always taken, so added the J for my middle name.