Oh fuck what is going to happen?

[notahappybunny7]

My mum has passed away. She has left everything in her will to me(house paid(220k and about 50k in savings)
no other siblings off my mother but my dad has 4 more(no relationship with them)
they're married have been for 40+ years but he’s a twat who’s never worked properly, my mum has grafted her arse off to pay mortgage and ct, he has paid utilities and food, well the basics my mum alway bought her lunches and any luxuries. No joint accounts ever.
I’m not money grabbing it my mum wanted this for me and my daughter, to better our lives, he is saying he’s not moving and will contest the will. What will happen?

Fleur02

Please be mindful that this is a woman in the acute phase of a complex grief reaction. Making any kind of judgements about her thoughts/feelings/actions is simply not on. It isn’t helpful and could be emotionally damaging.

Exactly this.

This.

I don't quite follow another poster who said the house is a matrimonial asset but the cash is not. All assets are potentially matrimonial BUT division of matrimonial assets is something that happens at divorce not death (and DURING a marriage there is surprisingly no obligation to share assets equally).

The situation here is that the husband has a potential claim as a dependant and a claim to part of the equitable interest in the house from his contributions. If OP can't come to an agreement with him, the Court will have to decide what he should properly be entitled to. That's why I say an early reasonable offer might be the best way forward.

If your father gets a solicitor but has no money he will need a NWNF deal. A solicitor is therefore only likely to take on a case that will win. If your offer is reasonable then it presents a high chance it won't be beaten/bettered which is technically a fail. I dont think he (or you( can get legal aid for probate disputes but do check as that might change the picture.

She’s determined to evict her blind father from his home of decades, maybe she needs to develop some empathy too.

OP I’m sorry for your loss.

My DM also would rather put a spin on things, to be able to pretend that everything is fine, rather than take action. I understand how hard that can be to deal with.

I’m not legal but having recently used a solicitor for a new Will I would recommend that you urgently speak to the solicitor that you went to with your DM to set the Will up. It’s unlikely that they haven’t given this situation consideration, there may be a quick answer.

If this was a wife being thrown out of her matrimonial home because her husband died and left everything to their son, there would be no debate

If the house was left to you then you need to give him notice to leave. You are under no obligation to house him. I would get a solicitor to write him a letter giving him a week to be gone and if he doesn't leave then you start eviction proceedings.

you need to get very clear legal advice. As it stands, I suspect he’s got a very good claim and if he peruses it you’ll eat money in legal fees.

if the will was done properly, the solicitor should have taken her very clearly through the implications of trying to disinherit a spouse. I was the executor for a will where a non-dependent relative had been disinherited and there were lots of letters explaining why but also a our solicitor wouldn’t let us pay out the bulk of the money for a good year in case there was a claim on the estate. It was a bloody nightmare tbh. From everything I read at the time, your father would be able to say he’s been disinherited and that as a spouse he should have had joint ownership despite the wording on the deeds. You also need to understand what your responsibilities are as executor. You might hate him but it doesn’t matter.

Oh, give over.

Give over what?

You are grieving and resentful which is totally understandable.

However the Law is not always fair and this is what matters here, his legal rights opposed to his moral entitlement.

Hindsight is a bitch but perhaps your mum should have transferred all of these assets when she decided she wanted you to have them.

You need proper legal advice, not judgement and half cocked opinions.

And at some point consider bereavement counselling because a legal fight now will affect how you process your grief.

It could be more than half.

machinescanthink

Just step back for a moment and consider the motive behind your post. Are you genuinely trying to help the OP? My guess is that this isn’t your motive. Stop posting unless you have something kind and/or helpful to offer. This isn’t the time for being ‘right’ or hashing out the ‘rights and wrongs’ in what is clearly a traumatic and complex situation for the OP. Two posters have pointed this out. I’ve reported. Please stop.

The advice you have given is completely wrong.

Fleur02

Just stop. This is a woman, with what sounds like a history of childhood trauma, in the acute phase of what is a complex and traumatic bereavement. Judgements are unnecessary, unhelpful and potentially damaging.

That's just utter rubbish "advice" and dangerous for the OP. They were married for 40 years. Doesn't matter what kind of man he was, by law, he has rights and cannot just be thrown out with a weeks notice. He probably can't be evicted at all!

Coming from a different direction, it seems incredible that Op's dad would need to go to court at all about this.

Isn't part of being married supposed to be protection against this?

Also please ignore some of the downright dodgy advice on here. I’d you are the executor as well as a beneficiary you have to be extremely careful about what action you take knowing the estate is likely to be disputed.

This explains how someone might make a claim and what would be considered pretty well.

https://www.willans.co.uk/knowledge/contesting-inheritance/

He is your mother's husband and as such, he has a right to half of the marital home and her savings surely. He can certainly contest her will.

If your mum made her will before she married him I know the marriage supercedes her old will and everything automatically becomes her spouses.

Put aside your obvious hatred for the man and treat him fairly. Hes lost his wife and now you want to throw him out of his home. Clearly you dislike him but your mother didn't because she was with him a long while.

OP. For your own well-being, I suggest that you ask for this thread to be removed and wait to get proper legal advice. There are people commenting who don’t have legal expertise and don’t have your best interests in mind. Now, more than ever you need good, sound advice.

My advice;

1. take this thread and your others off.
2. switch off your phone for an hour.
3. sit and have a cuppa - outside if you can. Listen to the birds or the sound of the rain or the wind in the trees.
4. book the solicitor.

Best of luck. You’re doing your best in very tough circumstances.

You would give a blind 77 year old man who has just lost his wife and who has lived in the house for 40 years a week to leave?

Don't ever become a landlord

If this was a male poster who lost his father and was trying to evict his mother after her husband/his father passed away, who was old and had ill-health, would you say the same?

Yeah, this is absolutely not going to happen.

OP, as numerous posters have already pointed out, your dad is in a strong position to contest the will. Like it or not, he has contributed to the maintenance and upkeep of the household. You’re only going to get clarity as to your position via a solicitor.
I doubt you’re looking at a straightforward process, and some negotiation with your father is probably on the cards.

There are people commenting who don’t have legal expertise and don’t have your best interests in mind
The law is what it is. It will certainly not operate with op's best interests in mind.