Inheritance query, too late?

[Whatnowmydears]

DH is an only child. Years ago after his DF died his mother quickly got a new boyfriend who moved into her home a couple of months later and the boyfriend then blatantly tried to alienate mother and son.

MIL was always a total narcissist, horrendous to DH, me and her grandchildren. New boyfriend encouraged this, even helping to drive a wedge between her and her life-long best friend too. Eventually DH went NC with his mother, as did her friend.

We recently randomly found out MIL died two years ago. Didn’t expect the boyfriend to try to contact DH to let him know, he’s sitting pretty in DH’s family home.
Probate has been granted and the solicitor who actioned MIL’s will didn’t try to contact DH either, perhaps they didn’t even know she had a son.

As far as we can see from the probate entry, MIL didn’t marry the boyfriend as it states her as still having her and DH’s family name.
Does this mean DH, her son, was still her next of kin?

Probate shows the boyfriend was an executor of her will, along with a neighbour we have never heard of. From the Land Registry, we can also see boyfriend is now the owner of the house.

So, basically, how do we get to see the details of MIL’s will? She may well have willed the house to boyfriend, or been in a civil partnership, but we just don’t know.
Is it too late for DH, her only son, to contest this?

www.gov.uk/search-will-probate To search for a will that has been through probate. But why wouldn’t MIL have left everything to her partner? You were NC with her. And the house was legally hers to do with as she wished, it didn’t belong to “the family”.

You can get a copy. I'm not sure about contesting. You need to talk to a lawyer.

www.familylaw.co.uk/news_and_comment/how-do-i-know-if-my-relative-left-a-will-and-how-do-i-get-a-copy

Get a copy of the Will.
Sounds like she left everything to her partner. Doubtful your husband will be able to claim anything if his mum had full capacity when writing her will.

Thanks for the link.
Exactly as you say. That would be her prerogative to do as she wished. Just looking to see it written down for closure.
The probate registration didn’t give details of thr will just the executors and estate value.

@Whatnowmydears

Thanks for the link. Exactly as you say. That would be her prerogative to do as she wished. Just looking to see it written down for closure. The probate registration didn’t give details of thr will just the executors and estate value.

Seeing it will help.

I saw my mothers after she passed (step dad prevented my siblings and I from being involved) and i was able to draw a line under it when it was all there in black and white.

*Seeing it will help.

I saw my mothers after she passed (step dad prevented my siblings and I from being involved) and i was able to draw a line under it when it was all there in black and white.

Thanks lady725516*

Glad you understand. Drawing a line sums it up perfectly.

Does your husband have a copy of his father's will? Did he leave his half to your husbands mother? Or a life interest? maybe his half was to pass to your husband. It's worth a look.

You should be able to download the actual will from the gov.uk website if it's passed probate. If the house is in her DPs name on the land registry it sounds like she left it to him in her will.

Just to check the obvious: was she in England/Wales?

Rules would be different elsewhere.

@Furloughedpissedoff

Does your husband have a copy of his father's will? Did he leave his half to your husbands mother? Or a life interest? maybe his half was to pass to your husband. It's worth a look.

That’s an interesting point. I remember seeing FIL’s will and it said if MIL married again, the house would go to his son, DH. I thought it was harsh at the time and couldn’t see how that could actually be enforced. Perhaps that’s why MIL didn’t marry again, who knows? The latest Land Registry entry for the house states FIL purchased it in the 1970s, now the boyfriend is the owner. No mention of MIL’s name in the interim.

@Chocolateis1ofyour5aday

You should be able to download the actual will from the gov.uk website if it's passed probate. If the house is in her DPs name on the land registry it sounds like she left it to him in her will.

Thank you. Have looked but can’t find specific details of the will on the gov site, just the registration of probate but yes, it’s looking most likely MIL willed everything to her partner. DH is okay with that. Just wants to see the actual wording in black and white, for closure.

@CharacterForming

Just to check the obvious: was she in England/Wales?

Rules would be different elsewhere.

Yes, this is in England.

Have you checked if you can see FIL's will on that website? He may have put his share of the house in trust if he stipulated it goes to your DH if MIL remarries

I would strongly encourage you to check to see if there was a will. If she died intestate and had not married or entered into a civil partnership with her boyfriend, he was not entitled to inherit anything. If that is the case, he has acted fraudulently by putting the house into his name and your husband will be able to take legal action against him to recover the estate.

If there was a will leaving everything to her boyfriend or they were married or in a civil partnership, your husband is out of time to challenge the will under the Inheritance Act. Whilst he could ask the courts for permission to challenge out of time, it would be a waste of time and money. He was not receiving any financial support from his mother at the time of her death so it is highly unlikely a challenge would succeed.

OP, I'm a little confused at some answers on here.
Firstly, the probate can be viewed online, but so can the will and the amount of the estate. It's the same place but you download them separately.
As your DH is a child of the deceased, he has 12 years to contest. I would say go ahead and do it, especially if that boyfriend is sitting pretty in the house.

Order the will online, it takes about 24 hours. I do this a lot for family history stuff.

@Lifeisforalimitedperiodonly

OP, I'm a little confused at some answers on here. Firstly, the probate can be viewed online, but so can the will and the amount of the estate. It's the same place but you download them separately. As your DH is a child of the deceased, he has 12 years to contest. I would say go ahead and do it, especially if that boyfriend is sitting pretty in the house. Order the will online, it takes about 24 hours. I do this a lot for family history stuff.

If there is a will and the OP's husband wants to challenge it under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act, he had 6 months from grant of probate to do so.

If there is a will and the OP's husband wants to claim that there is a clerical error or a failure to understand his mother's intentions, he had 6 months from grant of probate to do so.

The OP's husband is therefore out of time to contest the will on either of the above grounds. As I said, a claim under the Inheritance Act is unlikely to succeed.

If there is a will and the OP wants to contest its validity (e.g. by arguing that the boyfriend exerted undue influence), there is no time limit.

The 12-year limit applies where there is a will that entitles OP's husband to a share. That is how long he has to claim his entitlement.

The first thing the OP needs to determine is whether there was a will. If the probate registry does not have a copy of the will, her MIL died intestate and her husband should have inherited everything.

The other possibility is that MIL put her boyfriend on the house as a joint tenant, in which case he'd get the house regardless of any will.

@CharacterForming

The other possibility is that MIL put her boyfriend on the house as a joint tenant, in which case he'd get the house regardless of any will.

True. He is also entitled to any money held in joint accounts or assets held jointly.

Thank you, everyone, for your advice and info, all much appreciated.

Is he checking fil’s will too. If there was a clause that stayed the house passed to your dh if she remarried, and her name doesn’t appear on the land registry at all, it may be fil put the house in trust to your dh and mil had a lifetime interest.
If this is the case, then the house wasn’t hers to will to her partner.
Get copies of both wills and take it from there.

Sorry for typos.
I’d be checking…
Stated not stayed.

@whatnowmydears If FIL stated the house should go to his son if his wife remarried she likely only had the right to occupy the property. It is likely he wrote that his wife has the right to remain in the property until she remarrries or dies. I know of a situation where a person has the right to occupy a property until a person in a nearby carehome dies. The solicitor who dealt with MIL's will should have asked to see FIL's will as they will have changed the owner from FIL to boyfriend. Boyfriend will have lied that FIL wrote will leaving everything to MIL and solicitor will have not bothered to check. You need to contact the land registry, if this is what FIL will said and get them to change it. Then kick out boyfriend.

Sounds like FIL anticipated this happening.

I’d get a solicitor quick and get it resolved!

If anyone else is in a similar situation and knows that their parent left their portion (or all) of a house to be distributed after the death of the other spouse, you can get land registry to mark the register so extra checks are needed in the event of a death. This helps stop property falling into the wrong hands.
Do it early on.

You can also get the registery to alert you via email if any changes or enquiries are made on a particular property. So if a property were to be transferred to the wrong person you get an immediate alert to start proceedings to reclaim property.