Can anyone help us understand this?

[DoingTheBestICan]

Mil died last yr,Fil wanted to change the will they had wrote together in 2005 & got dh to sign a form saying he would agree to this (he was a trustee).

Fil came round the other day with another letter for dh to sign & when we asked him what it was for he replied it was just a letter that meant he wouldnt need to be bothered going to the solicitors about it all.

Basically dh has been shafted over the will anyway,his mum left her half between him & his sis & they would also get a lump sum straight away,fil has cahnged it & he told us it was to go into trust for the gc,& he would give our ds & sil 2 dc 10k each as a university fund.Also dh was to get 10k straight away as dh found out at the solicitors that ils had given sil a lump sum of indeterminate amount as deposit for her house,neither dh nor ds have recieved anything.

Then he told us he was taking all the family to America & told our ds this,then the day of booking it he changed his mind.Ds keeps telling people he is going.

This letter says
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICS
Family Division
The District Probate Registry at XXXXX

In the estate of XXXX deceased

Wheras XXXX of XXXXX who died on XXXX
having made & duly executed her last will & testament bearing date XXXX

And thereof appointed DH & FIL as executors

I DH of XXXX

do state that i have not intermeddled in the estate of the deceased & will not here after intermeddle therein with intend to defraud creditors.I renounce all my right & title to take a grant of probate of the will & letters of the administratioon with will of the estate of the said deceased.

Signed as a deed _
In the presence of

Signature of witness
of
date

If anyone could please help us understand what this letter means we would be really grateful as he wants it back before tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

Hang on, FIL wanted to change the will after MIL died. I really dont know anything about it, but it doesnt sound right to me. Don't sign anything and get some proper legal advice. Stuff FIL wanting it back by tomorrow, this is far too important to not get proper advice.

Bump for someone who knows about these things.

Bumping again but definitely sign nothing until you've taken legal advice - at the very least go to CAB with it.

surely not after Mil has passed away. he can't can he

Do not under any circumstances sign it. Tell the FIL you're taking independent legal advice and go to see someone who specialises in probate (pref. contested probate) asap

Thanks for your advice,sorry been working today so just got back in now.

We are both really concerned about whats happening & i think we are going to have to see a professional about this arent we?

Thing is fil is trying to make this all seem lighthearted & the reason he has given for wanting to change the will is so he can look after the gc for when he isnt here.He is effectively bypassing dh & diluting ds' inheritance as well.

He has always favoured sil & her dc & it seems he wants it to carry on after his death also.

Just read this out to dh & he is asking if anyone who has legal training could tell him the reason not to sign it?

I think he just wants to see the good in people & is reluctant to see his own df trying to do him out of his inheritance.

I'm not a probate specialist and its difficult to say on what you have written but if MIL has already dies and she left her estate to your DH and SIL then it is theirs and not for FIL to change. Does he have a right to remain in the property for life? You need to make an appointment asap to see a solicitor who specialises in wills and probate and take a copy of the will. do not sign the letter.

The letter basicaly seems to put FIL in charge of administering MIL's estate but your initial post said that the estate is split between your DH and SIL. If its as straightforward a will as that then it is their money now and not for your FIL to change even if he is the other trustee.

Some stuff on deeds of variation here.

Also here. (Not a solicitor, just sites I came across. As has been said, a solicitor will answer your DH's questions and consulting one doesn't mean he is being disloyal or suspicious. Anyone signing a legal document would obviously get advice as to whether it was the best thing for them.

This is a letter renouncing dhs rights as an executor. Still don't sign and go and get professional advice ASAP.

A will is a will surely?

Your dh should get his inheritance and then if he wants to can do something different with it.

I think you need legal advice asap, if what your dh has already signed makes a difference I think he needs to admit that he signed it under duress not realising the significance of it

Unfortunately we dont have a copy of the will but when she died fil told us her half of the house & other monies was to be split betwenn dh & sil with an upfront payment of 25k each,then when fil dies his half would be split between them also.

He originally asked dh to sign a form granting probate to fil & thats when dh found out that they had gifted sil money as deposit for her house.

I keep saying to dh i dont agree with all this as i feel it is going against mil's wishes,as she is now not here to speak for herself,her will was wrote in 2005 & she was not in the best of health,all the gc were born in 2005,2006 &2007 so i beleive if she wanted to leave all her estate to them then surely she would have herself?

We will most definitly be going to see our family solicitor before signing anything,in fact this same solicitor said to dh when he signed probate over was he sure & he didnt have to.

Thanks for your advice.

I agree with the other posters, please do not sign this letter.

I did work briefly in a probate department and I have never come across such a letter. I have never heard of "intermeddle" nor any of the other phrasings contained in the letter and it sounds like a load of old tosh to me.

The heading is correctly set out which gives the impression of a legal document. It is not. Get advice ASAP.

Doesn't FIL still live in the house? i.e. has a life interest in the property meaning your MIL's half can't be released whilst he lives there?

Either way, I would agree with everyone else about not signing until you've taken legal advice, best of luck to you.

I don't understand how your FIL can change the will without all beneficiaries signing a deed of variation?

When my grandmother died all the beneficiaries (of whom i was one) agreed to change the will reducing my parents' share and splitting their shares between I, my sister and my uncle. There was no dispute and we were all in agreement. My father (GM's son-in-law), my mother (GM's daughter) and the solicitor were named as executors. My mother renounced the executor role immediately and my father and solicitor applied for probate.

Then once probate was granted all the beneficiaries had to sign the deed of variation before the proceeds of the estate could be distributed.

I never saw the will before the deed of variation but the executors did. I would have thought your dh should have been given a copy?

Definitely get legal advice. Your poor dh

Thanks again for further replies,dh did sign a deed of variation at his dads solicitors around March time in think.

Fil does live in the marital home still.

We are very concerned now with someone saying the form looks like a load of tosh,just what is fil trying to do?

Dh signed the D of V because fil wanted to set up trust funds for the 3 gc thus diluting down dh's 1/2 to only getting 10k,since then fil has said he wants to put provisions in place in case sil has more children so they get the same amount as gc now.

He knows that dh & myself were very lucky to have our ds & knows there will be no further dc for us.

He has always looked after sil more & treated dh awfully.

I just dont know where this is all going to end.

Your dh should have seen a copy of the will at the time he signed the deed of variation (otherwise how could he know what he is agreeing to vary?).

Definitely get some legal advice. If only to be sure everything is above board although I suspect not from what you've said.

It sounds like it's too late to do much about what has already happened.

It seems like your dh will not receive anything from FIL when he dies. Favouritism is so horrible, will never understand it.

I feel so angry for dh his dad is a twat for treating him like this,when he was telling dh about his plans to change the will he wanted to give us a lump sum of 100k then us pay him 500 pm forever,despite us only having 6 yrs left on our mortgage.So this would have been dh & ds; inheritance & we worked it out we would be giving it back to him anyway as our rent.

When dh said no we dont want to do that he changed his plans again to leave it to the gc & when dh asked him what about him,his reply was what about you?

Says it all really dont it.

I may be out of line here but it sounds like your dh is letting this happen to him. A simple "no, we'll do what mum wanted" might have solved a few problems and might still solve a few yet.

I have said the exact same words myself Katie,dont worry you arent speaking out of turn.

DH has said he is not signing this form at all so it looks like he might actually be standing up for himself against his df.

It is probably too late now though & dh will recieve nothing.

Zombie!