beneficiary Of a will- being contested ?

[Lifesforloving1]

Hello all,
Myself and my sister are being left an estate by my Grandma. ( no bank money )
The will was read last Thursday & my uncles are wanting to contest it ….
My grandma made her will in complete sane mind done in 2018. Done my solicitors that went to her property twice… witness present, also singed by the solicitor… gave reasons for changing of the will.
She had a stroke 11 months later.

They are threating to take myself and my sister to court ect…
I’m getting myself so worked about it . What do others think ?
Could this be contested ?

If they want to successfully challenge the Will they will need to show that when she signed it she lacked mental capacity, didn't know and approve its contents, or was subject to undue influence. The burden will be on them to prove it. They can make a fuss and be unpleasant but will likely get nowhere. Don't panic.

@ColdSeptember
Okay Thankyou,
I have read it myself - and it said the solicitor had explained to my grandma ect and she completely understood, also given reasons to change it.
She was very fit and well before her stroke..
also as I said the solicitor went out twice to speak to her.
How much does it take to contest a will ? The solicitor said it wouldn’t be worth it ?
Think I’m just panicking !
Thankyou.

They will be advised not to contest it its very hard to do

If they decide to proceed they will take action against the estate, not you and your sister. They could try an Inheritance Act claim on the basis that they are her children, but that is unlikely to get them anywhere unless they were financially dependent on her at the time of death. They can also try to challenge on the grounds listed by ColdSeptember. However, on the information you have given, a challenge is unlikely to succeed.

Honestly this is a pretty common reaction born usually out of anger, grief and/or greed, people bluster all the time about 'see you in court', 'I'll take you to the cleaners' etc etc, sometimes it's because they don't understand the legalities, but I've seen even very well respected legal professionals flip their top and make all sorts of elaborate plans to sue their relatives or employer or whatever when they get unwelcome financial news that when given some calm rational thought they know are totally baseless. 99% of the time they'll simmer down once they realise they've got no chance of success and it will end up costing them more than they could ever stand to gain, and if everything is as you say even if they are in the very small minority that do try to purse something, they are really really unlikely to be able to overturn the will. I'd try and ignore as much as possible in the meantime, let them go and see solicitors or whatever and don't argue with them even though you know you're right, it's not worth the hassle. Sadly a death in the family and inheritance really brings out the ugly side of many people!

@maxelly
Thankyou ! I feel a bit better after reading you’re comment. They have become very nasty.
How much does a will cost to contest out of interest ? I will block the numbers I think.

That's a how long is a piece of string question I'm afraid, if you had the skills and time you could self represent to contest a will for just the cost of the court admin fees which would be a few hundred £s. But contesting a will is rarely an easy case and unless they have an unusual level of knowledge of the law for a lay person, to stand a chance of even getting to a first hearing and it not being chucked out for no reasonable prospect of success at the first hurdle, I would have thought they'll need to rack up a good few thousand pounds in solicitors fees (usually paid upfront, not no win no fee) and then same again for a barrister to represent them in court. People easily rack up tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of £s in costs in long running family law disputes. But if they have no case, which it doesn't sound like they do from what you've said, a responsible solicitor will strongly dissuade them from taking it to court, contrary to popular opinion lawyers aren't all money grubbing parasites just out to make a quick buck, most have no interest in pursuing hopeless cases...

Are you in England?

@maxelly
Wow ! I don’t think I’ll worry too much …. Thankyou !

@SpinningTheSeedsOfLove
Yes I am.

We are in the process of contesting a will and coming up for mediation. I can assure you the uncles will not stand a chance of success unless they were financially dependent on their mother. She was of sound mind and the Will is perfectly valid. They haven't a chance. If you look up Inheritance Act 1975 you will see who is a valid claimant (eg spouse) and I'm sure it will put you mind at rest. If they decided to self represent (suicidal financially) and it ended in court they would be slapped with a huge court bill.

Just smile sweetly and say it was what Granny wanted as she was happy to see you settled in your lives.

My friend and her brother considered contesting her late father's will and were told it would cost several thousand, and could easily run run into as £10k or more.

(Her DF had promised he would split his estate 50% to the second wife, and the other 50% between friend, her bro and their half-sister; plus he'd promised to make provision for their elderly mother, who was getting £1k a month from him. He was very well-off, and was believed to be in the early stages of dementia. He left everything to the 2nd wife.)