Can my brother contest Mum's will?

[Dogsmom]

Huge back story but I'll try to be brief.

My brother has been an alcoholic for years and lost everything, he lives on benefits in a flat which he admits is awful, rubbish several feet high, broken windows etc.

Due to some terrible behaviour from him we're now nc with him, we being me and Mum, Dad died 4 years ago.

After Dad died Mum panicked that if anything happened to her then 50% of her assets would go to my brother and he'd drink himself to death then it'd go to his 2 children who we haven't seen for 15 years.
She decided to write a will and leave it all in my name knowing it'd eventually pass to my 2 dd's which she was happy with, she told my brother and he was fine with the decision.

She's worried though that he'll try and contest it though, purely out of spite as things got very bad before we went nc with him, she's been told a few things (by friends not solicitors) that she should've left a token amount ie 1k to prove she considered him and that if he does contest he'll likely win.
She's even asked me not to tell him if she passes away but would I have to tell the solicitor about him when the will comes into effect?

He came into 65k last year when his ex sold their house which was in joint names and he'd blown the lot in a few months on alcohol and gambling and she's terrified he'll do the same with the money my Dad worked hard all his life for.

I don't know what trigger word/phrase you used OP but for some reason you've picked up a couple of followers who just want to snipe away at you.

The stuff you've posted is entirely reasonable. Try to ignore your followers and whatever windmills they're tilting at.

Make sure the grandchildren know you are both Nc with their dad - that might help them to be confident that a relationship with you and your mum will be a safe one?

Can your mum transfer assets to you now rather than wait til she dies?

My experience isn't quite the same as your case, but you might find it helpful.

My mother lived with a man (also an alcoholic, although functioning) for 17 years. She deliberately never allowed him to contribute in any way to her property. He didn't even contribute to utility bills, only to food and petrol. She did not want to leave him anything in her will, because her wealth came from my father. She asked me to give him what I thought suitable after her death (I was executor, her estate was divided between my brother and me).

I really didn't want to be put in that position, and advised her to leave him something, but she was adamant. She had a will drawn up by a solicitor and stated clearly why she was excluding him (he had lived with her rent free). Over the years she sometimes panicked and twice she insisted on adding another codicil repeating her wishes.

When she died I offered him an amount, he wanted much more, he went to a solicitor who advised him to accept my offer and that he had no chance of contesting the will in the circumstances.

So I agree with previous posters that a letter emphasising her wishes and the reasons for them should be attached to her will.

Lottie you honestly don't have a clue what you are talking about.

My dad has 4 children from his first marriage. The divorce wasn't great but he tried to stay in touch with the children. Wrote to them, called them, went to see them,sent gifts, they stayed with us whenever they wanted to but they fell out with him (still don't know why).

He carried on sending letters when they were adults but they never replied. The last one he sent said he hoped they would get in touch, the door was always open but he would respect their wishes and not contact them again if they didn't. Two of therm didn't get in touch, the other two did.

He died a couple of months ago, the two that never got in touch don't know why they didn't, think they thought there would always be time. They now how to live with that.

It is not always down to the parent why the children or grandchildren don't stay in touch. In an ideal world everyone would get on but RL isn't like that.

Thank you to those who can see that real life isn't straight forward, Nauticant I've never heard that phrase but you're right about ignoring them, there's not much more I can say and I'm not willing to post very private things on here.

It does seem like she needs to write a letter of wishes, I've never seen her will and asked her this morning about whether she put the reasons why in it and she said no, when she went to the initial consultation she explained her reasons and the solicitor said "My dear it's your money and you can leave it to whoever you want", he never said anything about a letter, oddly enough he's the same solicitor who advised a friends parent who is in exactly the same position to leave a token amount to prove the disinherited child was considered.

She's just shown me the will, it's very short just one page of A4, I'm named as trustee and executor and it says that her estate goes to me but if I'm dead it's split between my 2 daughters and if we're all gone then it goes to the Air Ambulance charity.
There's no mention of my brother at all.

I didn't know I was executor and that you could be both executor and beneficiary.

Could anyone tell me what happens when a will is executed? I'm presuming they don't simply say ok and follow the deceased persons wishes? Do they ask if there's other siblings and then contact them?

I'm presuming they don't simply say ok and follow the deceased persons wishes? Do they ask if there's other siblings and then contact them?

Neither of these. Instead it's just the executor/trix, or perhaps a person nominated by them, interacting with the Probate Registry. As far as I'm aware there's no searching for people who could potentially have a claim, it's all about the people named in the will.

The one thing I have experienced is if the executor/trix is likely to be wholly overcome by bereavement, then they're probably not the best choice and it might be better for someone else to be named.

This is a very basic guide:

www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/overview

Lottie you have no idea what you are talking about and are being hugely sanctimonious.

I think once you're in an advice section like Legal Matters I'm not sure whether the OP should be getting lectures on their supposed moral failings according to other posters' "moral codes".

I tend to agree - the brother's children don't have any viable legal claim but they have been dealt a fairly rough hand in life, and I don't really see what they've done to deserve being cut out of the inheritance they would have received from their grandmother if they'd had a functional father.

They (the grandchildren) have been told the door will always be open

But in the mean time they are being written out of their grandmother's will! Doesn't sound like much of an 'open door' to me.

I know family situations are rarely straightforward, but going purely on what I've read her, it seems really sad that these children (yes one is 18 but still barely an adult) clearly got the shit end of the stick with their father and are now also being written off by their grandmother (and aunt..).

What harm would it do for your mother to leave your brother's share to his children instead? To me it sounds like a tit for tat punishment for them not wanting to get in touch.

I've read here

Yes you can be both executor and beneficiary. As executor you follow the instructions in the will, once you have been granted Probate (which is fairly straightforward) and sorted out any Inheritance Tax which might be due.

Might be worth deciding now, while your DM is alive and well, whether or not her estate might be subject to Inheritance Tax (this obviously includes any property that would have to be sold) and taking any steps to avoid this - google it, there will be lots of helpful advice.

As executor you distribute the estate according to the instructions in the will. If you are sole beneficiary then, once you have got probate, you simply transfer everything to yourself. There is no need to notify anyone who is not named as a beneficiary in the will.

And I think some people on this thread are being ridiculously sanctimonious about your brother's children. If only Life were as simple as some people would like it to be. It's your mother's estate - she can leave it to whomsoever she wishes and she doesn't have to justify her reasons to anyone.

However, I do think the advice to specifically exclude your brother, and the reasons, would be wise. You still don't have to notify him though, as he's not a beneficiary.

If the grandmother wants to send the message that she bears them no ill will then I don't think that disinheriting them is that message. Obviously if they were in a position where their father could steal the money that would be different but there's no suggestion of that.

Exactly Winifred. Although the OP could also have her own reasons why she wouldn't want to encourage her M to distribute her estate a bit more evenly....

When my husband's mother died he received a letter from the solicitors dealing with her estate telling him that he had been left out of her will and asking if he wanted to contest it (he didn't). This was in Scotland though (OP doesn't say where she lives).

I'm not commenting on whether the OP's mother should leave money to the GC, I think her attitude to the how and why of the family not being in contact with the GC is sanctimonious.

Ahh, Scotland, yes, inheritance has different rules in Scotland. I always forget that.

Sympathies, we had a similar situation with my older sister, in the end she predeceased my parents though.

In Ilott v Mitson, the mother had actually specified in her will why she wasn't leaving anything to her daughter, but it didn't deter Heather from making a claim. Clauses like that may discourage some, but a lot of estranged children (it is almost estranged children in my experience) still go ahead and try to bring Inheritance Act claims against estates, with varying levels of success.

Sadly it does sound like your brother may well predecease your mother anyway, but I agree that a pecuniary legacy, of say £10k, may discourage a claim from him.

She should also consider the fact that his children could also bring an Inheritance Act claim against her estate if she doesn't leave them anything. I personally think it is a little unfair not to include a gift to them, although I know that these things are very complicated, again it could be a pecuniary legacy instead of a share of residue.

I can't believe her solicitor didn't mention the possibility of Inheritance Act claims when she was writing her Will. The solicitor will have a Will file, which would be looked at in the event of a claim. If it is noted on file that she specified why she was leaving certain family members out, that would be helpful in defending a claim, as would any proof that she had told your brother whilst she was alive that he would not be left anything. A letter of wishes is also helpful.

Although you have been named as executrix, when your mum dies, you could either renounce if it looked like getting contentious, or you can appoint a solicitor to carry out the administration on your behalf. I would advise anyone making a will to name one lay and one professional executor.

There is a time limit on making claims, so executors usually place a deceased estate notice in the London Gazette and a local newspaper once probate has been obtained and then distribute the estate a few months later once they are sure there are no claims from creditors. As an executor you are personally liable for distributing the estate correctly, so the last thing you'd want is to distribute and then have to ask for the money back if a claim is forthcoming from another party.

It's all been left to her anyway so the problem of distributing them reclaiming won't arise.

The GC have CHOSEN to not have anything to do with OP and her mum - THEY made the decision!

What do people not understood about that?

Leaving inheritance to people you only share a genetic link with and NO relationship whatsoever is just silly.

As well as claims, it seems inheritance also usually brings out the Green Eyed Monster