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?

I can’t believe a solicitor agreed to set up a will like this, surely they would know it would cause issues. The fact that you went with her causes more issues which won’t go down well imo. This could use up all the ‘inheritance in solicitors fees and court , leaving not much to inherit. Your dad may not have worked but they were married for a very long time. He might not have paid much in during their years together but that counts for nothing. Women who are stay at home mums who never work still get at least 50% in a divorce, as would your dad if they had divorced, what makes you think he won’t get 50% in a court in a will. You are going to end up with 50% of nothing trying to fight it I’m afraid, as courts/solicitors are not cheap. How’s he not going to be homeless btw , are you giving him a property, if he can’t manage a house how will he manage a flat? You say he’s on benefits, what benefits? Is he disabled? Sort of feel sorry for him, wife dead, child kicking him out, homeless, you make him sound horrible, but you are doing a good job of making yourself sound horrible too. Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!

Yes, because that's exactly what a solicitor would do in this case 🙄

I'm sorry for your loss and I can see why this is upsetting but you have to try to be clear-headed rather than emotional and angry.
I'm surprised the solicitor who drew up the will did not advise your DM better on this. She could have put the house into a trust as long as she acknowledged that your dad lived in the house and contributed (because he paid some of the bills). Your dad is elderly and disabled. Being an awful, abusive person doesn't negate his rights (when there is no record of said abuse and your DM did not divorce or separate). He also doesn't have to be on the mortgage or title deeds to have rights to the house.
If you can't afford a solicitor, can you go to the nearest CAB? Because there are different issues at play. Your dad's name is on the utility bill so he can prove he has lived in the house. Is he also on the electoral register and council tax? Is his bank account in his name registered to the address? There are laws around occupancy rights, matrimonial assets, and inheritances. It's a complicated situation.

This isn’t correct. Her mother was the only owner of the property and can leave it to whoever she likes. A person who was financially dependent on her (including but not limited to a spouse) could contest a will that leaves them nothing however.

if I was op, I would get on with probate. It’s up to him to challenge it.

Oh and sorry for your loss op. Your mum sounded like she wanted to do right by you and your daughter.

Coffeedelight

I am very purposefully not making any judgement or suggestion about what should or shouldn’t happen with her father. That’s none of my business. It’s not my job to decide what’s right. I’m just responding to the thread. Please read all my posts properly before judging me too.

He has literally already said that he will be making a claim though. The OP needs to take legal advice and consider potentially making him an offer.

An offer of a life interest now, addressing the issue before he makes a formal claim, could save her a lot of money in the long run.

Throwncrumbs

Not the time to be judging the OP.

I can not believe that a solicitor helped to draw up this will. The Provision for Family and dependents act 1975 - allows someone to put a case together that they should receive more provision and can vary the distribution of the estate.

Any solicitor would have known that the spouse would look to claim on the estate, and should have drawn up a will that provided the husband sufficient provision (think legal not emotion entitlement) and then a share to you.

As others have said, he will contest it.

@notahappybunny7

Firstly, I am so sorry for your loss, bereavement is terrible and I’m sure you miss your Mum very much. I hope you are surrounding yourself with good people, getting therapy if you need it and trying to decompress as much as you can.

On to the thread topic. With respect OP, it doesn’t matter that your Father is a vile person who fucked your mother over.

They were married for 40 years and he has been resident in the house for as long as she was.

Regards to the 50k inheritance - I am really surprised the solicitor didn’t advise a dead of variation to allow this to pass to you directly upon your grandparents death. This would have avoided the whole scenario.

Also you could have had ownership of the property with your parents retaining right of residence.

Where on earth did you get legal advise, this could all have been sorted out while your mother was alive.

The only thing that can be done now is to seek proper legal advice and attempt to reason with your father to avoid legal action.

If it were me I would let him remain resident until he becomes too unfit to stay, at which point you can seek power of attorney to take control of matters fully. Provided his other offspring don’t.

Re. Care: If the house is in your name and you have the cash too, then he is simply a relative you have let stay in your house. There could be a claim for deprivation of assets but would depend on your individual circumstances- get advice.
If he fights in court and gets some/all of the estate then that will be taken into account and have to go on costs. He will also have the choice about who to leave it to.

You can expect the collective bill for action, should he press for it, to be in the region of 80k. For you this would be a devastating loss. For him he probably isn’t worried as he would be 230k up from where he is currently after costs. He may get legal aid.. not sure.

I would avoid name calling or further inflaming the situation with him. Be calm and reasonable. Avoid court if you can because he does have a very solid claim on the estate.

See a good solicitor pronto.

Op states he can’t manage the stairs, how’s he going to manage a flat? Maybe he needs care, paid for out of the house he half owns!

And with the intended beneficiary sitting right there, too...

Is this true though? I thought if you were married you're entitled to half the house whether you bought it jointly or not. Unless you sign some kind of pre-nup signing away those rights.

This ^

and how is he going to afford the upkeep of the house he is now in without an income?

It may be best to get him to move to sheltered accommodation where he will be more comfortable etc if he is aged - how old is he.

How you convince him to move though I don't know? Does he realise how much the upkeep for the house will be? Cold you sit down with him and explain all this as your mum has been paying the greater share all these years.

If you want someone to do what you want, treat them well and don't fall out with them

When you're looking for a solicitor to give you advice, don't go to the solicitor who drew up the will because if the will is written as you say, then that solicitor is unbelievably bad.

Sensitive or compassion…much like the OP then!

This is good advice.

I'm actually struggling to believe a solicitor wrote this will at all. Unless OP and her DM deliberately mislead the solicitor as to the dad's vulnerabilities, contributions and living conditions.

Ps The guy is disabled and clearly contributed what he could for food and utilities…. Whatever his character or relationship between your parents they entered into a marriage and contract to support one another.

As much as you are angry with your father, this is equally a problem created by your mother.

It is abundantly clear that a spouse is entitled to a portion of monies/home in the event of death no matter the financial contribution to same.

In fact if this was a man who’d died and a woman left with nothing MN responses would be like a hornets nest again OP.

Absolutely flabbergasted any solicitor would not have flagged potential issues to you when drawing up the will.

So sorry you are in the middle of your parents mess.

Mums savings were from her parents (inheritance) that’s not a matrimonial asset???

Strictly speaking, no it's not - but if there are no other assets to support him it'll very likely be up for grabs, especially when he was dependent on your mum for housing and is elderly and registered disabled

As PPs have said you really do need professional legal advice here; it's way too complicated to risk a DIY which could land you in an even bigger mess

Since he is already saying he intends to contest the will, it sounds like he is well aware of the fact there is a will and that he doesn't get anything. However, once the time limit has passed, the courts will still allow a challenge if it is just to do so. In essence, the claimant needs to show that they have an arguable case, that there is no other remedy available to them and that they have acted promptly once they were aware of the situation. So, if OP's father was not aware of the will and OP acted as you describe, there is a good chance he would be able to bring a claim out of time provided he acted quickly once he became aware of what OP had done.

Yes they were married. Haven’t you seen all of the threads on MN advising women to get married before they have children, so they are not left homeless/penniless?
Marriage is not just some romantic fluff it’s a legal contract.

And with the intended beneficiary sitting right there, too...

I am currently executing a parent's estate using a will drawn up 10 years ago. The paperwork stored with it - perhaps even the will itself says that the solicitor's notes will only be kept for six years and then destroyed. My friends dad who is a retired lawyer said this is standard practice.

OP said the will was drawn up 8 years ago so it's quite likely the solicitor no longer has records of who was at the meetings and why the husband was no provided for. But there may well be a letter of explanation with the will.

OP do you have the will and related paperwork in your possession?

As others have said, when the will was drawn up by these 'solicitors' they should have acted a deed of variation to bypass the mother and pass the funds directly to the daughter. This would have resulted in the mother never actually 'owning' the asset, and as such not part of her estate.

However, this solicitor sounds like a generic will writer.