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?

Think people need to realise that the process applied on divorce is not the same as on death.

Absolutely, and he was contributing to the house, money going in is money going in, it doesn't matter what it was specifically used on, if he was laying bills he was contributing.

I think it's worth you stepping away from the thread now as it clearly upsetting you, and getting proper legal advice and making a plan.

You can't be married and just will marital assets to another party. Are you sure the solicitor you saw to draft the will was really a solicitor?

I assume from the house/savings? He doesn’t have any money.

And that person was trying to help and you have attacked them for no reason. They were giving you a legal response which is what you asked for

I don't think it matters that he contributed less proportionally. I contribute less proportionally in finances to my marriage, but more in other ways. This is the arrangement they had. Not trying to make you feel worse OP, but many households have financial arrangements that don't make everything 50/50, yet they consider themselves equals.

I think you need to speak to a lawyer to get accurate advice on how to move forward. It's possible in my NAL opinion that he could potentially claim dependency.

@PerfectYear321 that’s not true, you need to follow formalities but it’s perfectly possible to disinherit a spouse.

There won’t be iht value of the estate isn’t enough, but he’s spiteful and stupid enough to let it all be eaten up.

Wow, op. How needlessly aggressive you are! It won't help you one jot. The
law is on your father's side.

I am sorry for your loss.

I think Fleur is referring to your earlier claim that your father didn’t contribute to the household costs and your later one that he did.

In law you don’t get to separate out the other bills from the mortgage as you seem to want to do.

You really do need to pay a solicitor for proper legal advice, and it seems that your late mother may have misunderstood how much of the house she was able to will to you.

Were they joint tenants, or tenants in common?

Firstly, sorry for your loss

It's not quite the same but when I divorced my husband (no children) the house and mortgage were in my name and he had never worked. At the time I was advised he was actually only entitled to 50% of the increase in value of the property not 50% of the whole sale price. He also didn't get this as reached an agreement with him to avoid court. The house was worth £250,000 and I settled only £5000. The only problem is that I was advised that if it did go to court then the courts would likely award him the 50% so I was lucky he agreed to the significantly lower figure.

But not possible to will something that you don’t own.

Here's a bit of info on contesting the will. Having read it it seems he will have to apply to a court to get the will declared invalid. To do this he will need legal advice. How is he going to be able to pay for this? If lawyers think that the case will succeed they will take the case on a no win, no fee basis but as they are taking on the case they will likely take a hefty cut of what he is awarded. What's left won't allow him to live in that house and probably won't buy him anywhere else.

As another poster said for now don't agree to anything and don't promise him anything. Don't give him any money for anything. How is he paying for billls, food etc now? Tell the council, utilities, banks etc your mother has died. The bank will then freeze her current account and the utilities will write to him about taking over the bills. He will then probably realise he can't afford to stay there even if he had inherited the house. At this point he may be far more amenable to talking to you about a suitable flat that you could buy in your name for him to live in (but you need to look into this carefully as I don't think housing benefit would be payable to you as you are related).

He really needs advice immediately about how to live and pay bills if he is getting too old/ ill to work and has v little access to funds (unless he has his own savings). Does he even get a pension if he has always worked cash in hand?

Apply for probate as soon as you can and continue executing the will. Keep things cordial with him but promise nothing. Ask how he sees the future and encourage him to get advice on maximising his pension and benefits now so he can pay his bills while the longer term future is sorted out. It could be the council give him housing benefit and he decides to get a little flat somewhere and not pursue the will.

Sorry for your loss.

www.legalandgeneral.com/insurance/over-50-life-insurance/wills/contesting-a-will/#:~:text=If%20you%20want%20to%20challenge,remarry%2C%20or%20a%20cohabiting%20partner.

The house/mortgage was solely in my mothers name?

OP - can imagine that the abuse you talk about must have been awful and extensive for the situation to be like this. A decent solicitor will be able to support you at this time.

It’s as @MinnieMouse0 set out earlier. He can’t pay for the process from the estate, I don’t think - needs to actually front the cash unless this is one of the few things that legal aid is still available.

i think you probably need to act quite swiftly re the house but only once you have advice you can trust. Which doesn’t include a bunch of insomniacs on the internet. Sending support.

End of? 😂. They're marital assets, it's not that simple.

You cannot will someone else’s assets. If her father owned half of the house then the will cannot take that from him.

On the information given so far, he may well be able to evidence that he did. Living there with his wife for decades and contributing to the bills gives him a strong claim.

With joint assets? House, savings etc?

Right do utilities are in his name, his income is benefits, he can’t work, age 77 and registered blind, although he has some limited vision

Thanks for your response. So how does your dad know what’s in the will? I would suggest first thing tomorrow you call the solicitor who drew up the will and ask for advice on next steps.

Whose names are on the deeds op? Was your dad actually named on the mortgage as a payee?

He can claim, he was her husband for over 40 years.

He doesn’t. He just assumes it’s his house as he’s the man and sad to say, my mother has been, for want of a better word, a doormat 😢

Never. Just my mums name

It’s quite easy to look up in whose name the house is on the Land Registry - anyone can do this. You just put the address in and pay £3. You can then see if there are any interests other than your mothers. As there was a mortgage, if it was a recent one then anyone else living in the property will likely have needed to sign a form saying they had no interest (what used to be called overriding interests) in the property but if the mortgage was from a long time ago there may not have been any form. Seems unlikely if there was a mortgage in mother’s name only that a bank would accept someone else being on the deeds.

This is a useful document to take with you when talking to the solicitor.