Has anyone challenged a Will?

[palomapear]

I had to invent a new name.

My father isn’t dead yet but he has changed his Will last week to exclude me.

Mumsnet wisdom is no one is entitled to anything in a Will and I know it’s right but now it’s happening to me I feel rejected. Here’s the back story

My father left home when I was a toddler, he was never married to my mother. He set up home with another woman, married her, had some children with her. He would send me the odd birthday card, sometimes with a £10 note in. Occasionally he would ring my mum from a phone box to see how I was and I met him a few times over the years without the knowledge of his new wife and kids, less than once a year.

Fast forward over 30years and his wife dies. He rings my mum to tell her and within a short space of time she welcomes him back! I’m married with children of my own and I am stunned to be going to my mums wedding. I met my half siblings for the first time they were all adults.
Things were ok but not the happy family my mum would have liked. Father also hated my husband for no reason. My mum died last year. I’m low contact with my father as I don’t really know him. There isn’t a bond. He doesn’t really know my children’s names.

They had written wills which mum left her possessions/savings to me. He left his bungalow to his other children but left his savings to me. Obviously not as much as half a bungalow ( which is ok because it was their mums home too) but it was several thousands pounds.

I have now found out that he has changed his will again and I’m not mentioned at all. I think he has been manipulated by my half siblings. He’s not senile but very forgetful and one of them has Power of Attorney. He’s in his 80s and in good health.

I’m upset and cross. If I don’t come to terms with this could I do anything in the future?

Dont get yourself wound up by a couple of thousand pounds. That sounds blunt but a similar thing happened to me with my gparents. I was written out just before they died for a similar amount. Out of 6 gc i was the only one who did anything for them. I came to terms with it by deciding they were old and a bit mad. My friend said "its the price of a decent handbag" which makes me laugh even now.
Make up your mind now that it is gone and let it go.

I thought about putting my query in another section as I wasn’t sure if I wanted a legal reply or an emotional one. I thought if I get over the emotional side and I may still be left wondering

Probably saying several thousand is underestimating what he has in his accounts. It’s like to be ten thousand or possibly more. He gets my mums work pension which he probably won’t spend. He’s not on the poverty line. If he lives longer he could save more unless the sister with power of attorney spends it. So worth thinking about. I knew he sent money to his other grandchildren for University but my kids have never had anything.

I'll start by saying I'm not a legal person, but from the reading I've previously done (and assuming you're in England) I recall everything boiled down to only being able to successfully challenge a will if you were financially dependent on the deceased person as an adult (if you were an adult when they died). This doesn't sound like the case for you so you'd spend a fortune on legal fees for nothing.

As an aside, my father decided to drop into the conversation one day that he frequently went to his solicitor to rewrite his will to alter what he left to me or my sibling according to who had ruffled his feathers at the time. I had not asked about his will as I find discussing it distasteful so when he saw fit to share that I thought it says a lot more about him than me both in discussing it predeath as some sort of leverage or emotional blackmail and the fact that he actually used his will to reflect his pettiness given that the worst I've done is not invite him round enough for his liking . In truth this ridiculousness along with a whole host of issues I won't bore you with have made me hold him at arms length as I've realised that trying to do my best for him has never been good enough so I've stopped trying and only do things on my terms and rarely out of obligation. As a result my life has been much relieved of drama and family stress

People are complicated beyond belief so do yourself a favour and try not to get sucked into it. Yes it's painful but it would likely be worse if you let it eat you up.

Sorry about the long sentences!

Does your mum's will mention you?

I see that she did. Speak to s solicitor on that basis.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/15/supreme-court-rule-case-daughter-left-mothers-160k-will-favour/

This is an interesting case brought by a daughter who was financially independent of her mother. She was awarded a small amount after a long legal battle.

I think you'd need a lawyer and you'd have to decide if the cost would be worth the gain but you'd have a decent case given you were originally provisioned for in your mum's will.

The fact that the OP's mum left her something in her will is completely irrelevant. It has no bearing on his will at all.

OP - there are various grounds on which a will can be challenged. However, it doesn't sound like you would have an Inheritance Act claim as you are not dependant on him and you haven't suggested that you are struggling financially. Assuming the will is properly drawn up and executed, the only grounds for challenge would be undue influence (if you could show that he was coerced into leaving you out by your half-siblings) or that he lacks testamentary capacity. If you wanted to pursue this you would need to consult a solicitor who specialises in contested probate. However, you can't do anything until he dies.

I think you would be best advised to let this go. Based on the information you have posted it doesn't sound like you have evidence of coercion or that he lacks testamentary capacity. It sounds to me like a challenge would be a waste of money. But you need proper advice to be certain.

I can understand completely why you would want to contest his will. Basically your father provided little or no financial or other support while you were growing up. Then when you were an adult, he married your mother, still provided no support of any kind to you as his child and inherited all of your mother's assets - assets that would have gone to you otherwise.

He now proposed to give those assets, originally your mother's, and his own to his other children, completely excluding you. So these other children, as well as having been supported by their father, unlike you, will also inherit your mother's savings/pension savings etc.

He is an utterly crap man and a lousy father and I wouldn't think much of your siblings either. I suspect given your scenario, you might have a case for challenging the will - if only to get back what your mother left him. But you should ask yourself is it really worth it to do this because it will take a toll on you.

ok misread it - so you did inherit your mother's possessions etc - that is different I think.

She was awarded a small amount after a long legal battle

She was. However, she only got an award because she was in serious financial difficulty. Even then, the Supreme Court was clear that the original judge could have awarded her nothing and it would not have been possible to challenge that decision.

but you'd have a decent case given you were originally provisioned for in your mum's will

Her mum's will is irrelevant. The OP has already inherited anything her mother left to her. If her mother left anything to her father it is now his to dispose of as he wishes.

I wasn’t financially dependent on either parent. I got my mums Premium bonds etc so I had a windfall in the summer.
I think my half siblings have manipulated my father into changing his will to their favour as they view me as an outsider. I am a stranger to them. That’s fine. We can’t pretend to be anything else.

But he has always financially favoured that side of the family so when I saw the Will leaving me the cash but not the house I was pleased to be included. While it wouldn’t be a life changing amount it’s more than spare change.

you might have a case for challenging the will - if only to get back what your mother left him

I know you've posted again but just to be clear, even if the OP's mother didn't leave her a single penny it would not give the OP a case to challenge her father's will. It doesn't work like that.

Agree with pp's that it is unlikely that you would have grounds to contest a legal will.
However, if you seriously think your father is being financially manipulated by your half-siblings, because of his deteriorating mental condition, then this is a vulnerable adult safeguarding issue. You could ask your local Social Services Adult Safeguarding Team to investigate this.
Don't expect it to make you popular with your siblings though.

@prh47bridge - what you say makes sense. Thanks.

I’m sad about the whole thing. My mum was really pleased he was leaving me money and I think it was a relief for her that that he had properly acknowledged me. She would be really upset now.

I think there is something going on behind the scenes. He is more forgetful, repetitive than a couple of years ago. One sibling spends more time with him than before. But nothing I can prove as far as I know.

Other than being elderly he seems to be in good health so perhaps I will let go before the time comes when I would need to challenge. Or I will build up more bitterness and really go for it!

He didn’t even send us a Christmas card.

it's not so much about the money per se, as that a bequest would be a tangible sign that that your father regarded you as being as important to him as his other children. And that he led your mother to believe this. He is letting both of you down, again. That's very hard. You have my sympathy.

Op, I'm sorry to say there are some right cunts out there, your father let you down a million ways, but you can't win and are best to try and move on.
(Similar circs in my family, all the money and time you will waste on solicitors is not worth it).