Inheritance - I feel slighted

[LadyGaGasPokerFace]

I know the consensus on MN is that ‘you can leave and divide your assets to anyone’ but I’m feeling very slighted today after going to a will reading and feel like me and dc have been done over.
So, df passed 5 years ago. I knew the will as both df and dm showed me. It was very transparent that it was 50/50 with my sibling. If I popped my clogs it’d go to my dc. Fair enough. Sibling has no dc or spouse. Extremely lazy with regards to everything in life including never moving out of the family home. Never paid any bills, parents did, even the council tax when parent became widowed.
Other parent passed a few months ago and we went to the will reading recently. After the passing, sibling kept referring to parent as taking taxis to places, which is pretty unbelievable as parent doesn’t speak English very well and relies on us to do things for them.
Just been to the will reading and they have left me a quarter of the estate to me and changed the will. The other sibling has got 3/4 and no mention of dc in the will. I was told parent took taxi to solicitors and they sorted it themselves. Bearing in mind that they cannot use PIN machines/cash machines and needs either myself or sibling to sort.
Anyway. Over lockdown this parent became unwell and called police on sibling and claiming claiming they had ‘stolen’ their house and they had nothing to give to their grandchildren. I found the deeds online and showed the police and sibling, that this was not the case and it was left at that.
I now feel that coercion has taken place and feel that the will had been changed in favour of sibling. Urgh! I haven’t a clue what to do, but sibling was made executor 🤦🏼‍♀️ who even admitted to the solicitor that they are ‘useless’ with these things —understatement of the century—
I’m now left reeling that we have been ‘downgraded’ on the will that the 1st parent agreed to as they knew dc would inherit via me.
Oh, I don’t know what I want, but I feel like I’ve been kicked in the teeth with this.
Sorry it’s long 😳
NB apologies if I’ve missed anything and drip feed, it’s quite long and complicated.

Beware solicitors!
You are in 'contested Will' territory which can be seriously expensive to unravel.
I am an executor and having been told by my parents that I would inherit around £150,000 (complete with details how this value was justified). when it came to it my sister had (through interference with last surviving parent) '(acquired) around £550,000 of what had been a 'pot' of £650,000 which was to have been divided equally among 4. First solicitors largely ignore my questions about where the money had gone (550,0000) then withheld evidence and delayed progress. the stress gave me a stroke which has left me with some brain damage and manual impairments. As a result I am frequently suicidal (I have Passive Suicidal Ideation that drifts towards 'active' when depressed) and neither the Legal Ombudsman or others will do anything about the situation. The first solicitors simply walked away from the case. I have 5 years of email and printed evidence. You need to act swiftly and carefully collecting as much evidence as possible. Like my case you may discover foul play which will be difficult to untangle. By all means PM me if you would like any suggestions. I am now a French resident but happy to make suggestions.

@ILeclercreturn I’m so sorry you became unwell due to the stress of it all ☹️ it’s very recent so I need to calm down a bit before I seek advice.
The solicitor even admitted to me that my mother didn’t understand the ‘big words’ used in the will. This is like the gift that keeps in giving 🤦🏼‍♀️ I honestly think they think I’m stupid. Which I did play at the solicitors office, hence my new username.

it seems you are right to feel slighted. i'm sorry.

as someone said above, challenging a will is very difficult and expensive and will probably not be worth it.

How much is it all worth in total? Is it worth fighting for?
Did your sibling provide a lot of care to your parents in their final years, perhaps your DM genuinely did change the will in siblings favour?

My main message to you is to pause and reflect for a while as you of course need to 'stabilise' after grieving. With a trusted friend (or partner) try and assess what you might actually gain as it might not really be worth it. My experience of solicitors (around a dozen for a a variety of reasons in my life) is that just because they have a sign that says solicitor does not mean they are trustworthy. they 'close rank' and defend each other if challenged. The Legal Ombudsman (and solicitors Regulatory Authority) have demonstrated that they are simply even more highly paid charlatans. This is not to say there are no good solicitors but sorting good from bad is tricky. I wrote to a solicitor wanting them to do 2 very simple tasks for which I was quoted £4,000 (contact a trust fund to release some funds (about an hour's work at most), and seek a reply from someone else (maybe 1 letter and a phone call) but I was 'strung out' for a year and ultimately charged £60,000. I have not received any documentation to support their extortionate invoice, which is in itself illegal.
If you are an executor you can request information directly, or ask an executor to obtain your parents bank statements which may take some time to materialise.
From what you first wrote I would suspect some curious financial activity by your sibling. Keep notes and talk to your parents friends where possible.
I wish you the best of luck and calm in the coming days.

{Relocatiorelocation}
Please excuse me making this thread more about me but telling my 'tale' is somewhat therapeutic.
it is interesting that gradually over about 4 years suspicions I had about my case have been confirmed.My sibling had persuaded my mother to put 2 houses into my sister's name. After 4 years I finally got written proof that the solicitors firm involved had done the conveyancing but previously they had claimed no knowledge of the transactions. One solicitor suggested that my mother had bought a house 100 miles away from where she lived, and had then forgotten about it. Mother was still completing Guardian crosswords every week so not going 'Ga Ga. bank statements showed that 'errant' sibling had been taking money from ATMs even 3 days after mother had died (as well as having a couple of hundred thousand transferred to her directly).

There is a lot of this about. It's awful and I think the law should be changed and there should be greater powers for police and courts to prevent this. Time and time again money goes astray, elderly people are coerced or bamboozled and their assets are effectively stolen. Yet the law seems powerless.

I'm so sorry OP. I don't know what can be done.

The fact that one poster appears to have had a bad experience with a solicitor doesn't mean all solicitors are like that. If you have any proof of coercion or have evidence that your mother was not of sound mind or didn't understand the will, or worse that the will is a forgery, you should consult a solicitor who specialises in contested probate.

You need to weigh up the amount you’ve lost versus solicitor fees versus toll
of dealing with this versus damage to family relations.

It’s not uncommon for one family
member to act selfishly in this way, even immorally or illegally. It’s not fair. But, you have to look way down the line. Is it worth it. Something like this can do an awful lot more damage than accepting and moving on without rancour (which needn’t be the same as giving in, incidentally).

Thanks @prh47bridge and @Suemademedoit
It’s certainly something to think about. My dm has been in ill health for a good few years. Not independent at all and needing lots of assistance from going to appointments to translating when with doctors. So certainly would have been manipulated/mistranslated to when at an appointment.

@SunneRising it’s not the monetary aspect it’s the principle of it all that my dds have been done over so to speak. That they weren’t even a thought, even though they were very much adored by dm.

Another thing cropped up in my head (sorry) that I’d thought of is that did the solicitor actually witness my dm signature? It looks too ‘perfect’ to be her signature.
I do recall dm not being able to sign things like cheques. IIRC when she had heart surgery, she scrawled a signature on the surgeon’s paperwork. The will was made a year later.

Gosh! I’m beginning to either sound paranoid or Miss Marple 😳

The witness should be named on the will. It's often a member of staff from the solicitor's office or a neighbour.

Unless the value that you think that's been "stolen" is in the 100s of 1000s then I think you are going to have to try and find peace. Anything less will be eaten in solicitor costs if strung out (which they usually are). Since your brother has nobody else then all you can do is hope you are named in his will but since nobody is looking after him you can bet he will find himself a wife.

My brother hasn't finished executing my mother's will from ten years ago. I'm still due some money but I have written it (and him) off. Im sorry, the whole system stinks.

I’ve just looked at the date of when the will was changed. It’s a year after her heart bypass, she was using a zimmer frame to get about and was very unstable on her feet. She would have had to have someone with her in the office as there’s a step up to it too. Unless she made a miraculous recovery that day, there’s no way she did that will on her own. She was fairly housebound.

{LadyGaGasPokerFace}
Well done in adding more details. It may feel tedious and ultimately be unnecessary but jotting down as many recollections as you can would all add to the possibility of a 'better' outcome.
I am continually thinking that I am fighting for both my child and nephews who have effectively had a life improving inheritance stolen from them.My copious noted would allow my child to sue the solicitors whenever I die, be it tomorrow or 10 years time. jotting down recollections and making a 'timeline' also helps.

I'm going to try and get access to her medical records. Even when I gather my evidence together, I will see if it's worth it.

Another note is that my sibling has already inherited a house from my uncle. I didn't get involved in that one as I hated my uncle, but there definitely wasn't a will. Uncle wasn't married or had dc. The sibling's name is on the deeds as I checked a few years ago and he 'wasn't aware'.
The house has been sat empty for a good 16 years. No probate has ever taken place. At one point whilst clearing uncles house my sibling suggested fraudulently making a will up with dead family friend's signatures. I objected to this profusely and was shocked they suggested it.

I'm gathering evidence to make sure people know that sibling is untrustworthy. I am keeping my cards close to my chest. I hope I can keep my cool as I have invited them to my holiday home which will be fun!

I'm sorry you are going through this OP. Something similarish happened in my family. I do feel slighted but in my case I can't do anything. And to be honest I think my DC would lose out if I pursued it because my peace of mind would go with the stress of it and that would be detrimental to them as well as me. 'Why pay the therapist (or solicitor)?' as the saying goes.

To be honest I would simply walk away.
One of my siblings took tens of hundreds of pounds from my parents, cleared out anything of value and EBay’d it, helped themselves to all mum’s jewellery, dad’s watches etc and tried claiming backdated ‘costs’ months after their deaths with menace.
Their behaviour was so completely sickening it was almost unbelievable. They even tried selling the house without informing us or the solicitors! We only found out when by chance I saw it advertised!
They have to live with their consciences and, as church goers I don’t know how they live with themselves.

Google "estoppel" and read various examples/cases and a) what the grounds are and b) whether legally you think you could prove these grounds. There are quite a few examples on line and explanations of why cases were won/lost.
When some solicitors hear the words "contentious will" their eyes light up as they can make a fortune acting for an (usually understandably) aggrieved family member. These cases are long and protracted and very often the case is difficult to prove/not clear cut in law.
I can recommend someone I used (not for contentious but something quite complex) who knew exactly what to do and the steps to take to resolve the issue. It involved three countries but because she knew her stuff, she wrapped it up in 10 weeks at a cost of £1,500. I liked her and instinctively felt she was honest.
If you want her details PM me - I believe she will ask you some specific and direct questions in order to ascertain if there is any chance of success going forward rather than saying..oh poor you..yes..I'll take your case on...

@LadyGaGasPokerFace Your sibling can not have inherited the Uncle's house without a will, if you didn't. If uncle died without a spouse or a will then it goes to the nearest blood. If parents were dead it would have been divided equally among full siblings. If no full siblings it goes to half siblings. If no siblings it is divided equally between all full nieces and nephews and if none, half nieces and nephews. If the person was a single only child with no kids, dead parents and no aunts or uncles it goes to cousins. This is set out by the law of intestacy.

@ladygagaspokerface The sibling will have lied to the land registry that they are an only child and that the uncle had no siblings alive. This is fraud and I would report your sibling to the police. It is just as much fraud as embezzling an employer. It is stealing. I think it is very likely that your sibling has done something fraudulent and I would start speaking to the people who witnessed the will.

@ladygagaspokerface Which of your parents was uncle's sibling? If he had a living sibling then they automatically inherited the house unless they put it in the name of your sibling. It is not legal, if a person dies without a will, for any random person to take their stuff. It's divide amongst closest blood relatives if no spouse.

@ladygagaspokerface The Uncle's house has lain empty for 16 years because it should have gone to Uncle's sibling/s. If the uncle was your mother's brother and there are no other siblings it falls into her estate. So the siblings would get three quarters. However you could threaten to dob them in to the police as it would be fairly easy to prove fraud since uncle had at least one living sibling you could use the death certificate.