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?

Lots of people talk about contesting the will but very few actually do it. How will he pay for it for starters.
You however, really must seek legal advice if there is any possibility he might contest it. Could save you a lot of money in the long run

If he's been on benefits for ill health / blindness for a while, he will not be seen as a 'workshy cunt' by the court, and as PP said, he will be seen as vulnerable. Also contributing 200 pm for the bills is a decent amount for the house of that value.
On the one hand this will work in favour of you arguing house is not suitable for his needs - but on the other hand no way he'll be left with no share of the assets in his position / age / having contributed monthly!

There’s no such thing as a “marital asset” on death - although assets can be jointly owned by spouses.

Like I said he can challenge the Will or make a claim under the Inheritance Act 🤷🏻‍♀️

If dad isn’t on the deeds then it’s not his asset, regardless of how much he has/hasn’t contributed during lifetime. He will have to challenge the Will or make a claim if he wants a proportion of the estate but he doesn’t get anything automatically.

No it isn't.

Assuming the OP is in England, yes that's correct. If in Scotland a spouse cannot be fully disinherited as they automatically get legal rights which trump any disinheritance under a will.

English law allows full disinheritance under a will but allows a claim to be made under that Act. I can't imagine that an English court would uphold a will leaving nothing to a dependant spouse.

This is a good article covering both jurisdictions.

Disinheriting a spouse

Having just been through the same situation he does have a claim as he’s classed as dependant on your mum and as he’s on benefits he can argue he will be worse off financially and definitely have a strong claim. My advice after 2.5 years defending my father’s wishes only to have to provide his, dodgy, on benefits working cash in hand partner, with a third of the estate and pay her legal costs of £125k as she qualified for a no win no fee solicitor, try to resolve now or MEDIATE. It’s really unfair but basically you don’t always get to leave your money where you want as the legislation ie inheritance act gives significant others the opportunity to claim and then it’s often decided on need ‘reasonable provision’

@notahappybunny7

I’m so very sorry about your mum and now you have to deal with this!

Do not discuss this issue of the Will with your father, but tell him that anything to do with how the Will left things, needs to go through solicitors.

Inheritance law in England means that your dad can indeed be cut out of your mother’s Will.

Her inheritance is not counted as inherited money/property doesn’t count as matrimonial assets and thus can be left to whomever she likes!

The Will should have been written in such a way that it doesn’t leave any wiggle room for a claim against the Estate.

Going to court will eat in to a lot of your inheritance!

Your father will have to prove that he contributed in some way to the house/marriage. This could be by proving he paid towards the bills/mortgage, or perhaps he was a house husband who was responsible for the running of the household, as when a wife would support her husband in other ways that aren’t financial, by allowing the spouse to work whilst taking care of all the home duties/children.

Everything you say about your father, you will have to prove, just as everything he says, he will have to prove.

It isn’t as cut and dried as I was married to OP’s mum so I want half of everything.

Law doesn’t work like that. It’s not necessarily about what’s fair, it’s about what’s legal, what legal precedents there are, what your mother’s wishes were.

Unfortunately, when husbands die and leave Wills like this, yes, wives can and do find themselves cut off with nothing.

Also, if your father never (legally) worked, he may have a claim towards your mother’s pension, so be aware of that. Unless your mother also put that in the Will.

A solicitor (preferably the one who drew up the Will), will not cost you an arm and a leg to go and see and get legal advice. It’s better to do this now so that you know where you stand, as it may well be that you can come to some agreement with your father rather than have a costly, and drawn out, legal battle.

Also, things like too many stairs and he’s aging, are nothing to with the Law or the Will. The judge isn’t going to make a decision predicated on the layout of the house, whether your father can afford to stay in the house, whether he can afford to pay the bills for the house, or anything else.

It may well be that your father just wants to continue living in the marital home, which wouldn’t be so unusual, rather than he wants the Will overturned (which is unlikely to happen, as Wills tend to be a person’s last wishes and judges are mindful of that and don’t tend to throw a Will out in favour of English intestate law).

It’s unusual that your mum didn’t allow him a tenant in common provision, which allows spouses to live in property until they die, but doesn't mean that the spouse inherits.

Ultimately, judges always try to take into account what the deceased person’s wishes were.

Let me start by saying that I am very sorry for your loss. I am currently involved in legal action due to a Will, a will that was legally written and witnessed. However under the Inheritance Act, he will be able to make a claim. He could consult a “no win, no fee” lawyer and you could then be liable for his legal fees too. It is highly unlikely that he would be made homeless as he is the legal spouse of the deceased and it will therefore be deemed that he paid into household expenses. It is highly unlikely that anyone would receive legal aid, and as the defendants you would be expected to pay your own legal costs, which mount up very quickly. You need to find a solicitor that deals with this fairly quickly. You need to know who her official next of kin is, I think legally it will be him. So he will report her death officially and then inform all the other legal bodies necessary, such as her bank, the DWP, if she has any life insurance and a private pension.

I know this seems really unfair, and it is, but it’s the law unfortunately.

Get yourself a lawyer, quickly

You get a conditional fee agreement from a solicitor that specialises in contentious probate, quite straightforward

@notahappybunny7 I can't give you any advice on the Will but I will say that any abuse your dad may have used against your mother will not be taken into account.
I like your mother was the door mat who suffered abuse for many years from my now Ex wife.
My big mistake was suffering in silence for 8 years before we split. My solicitor basically said without something offical from West Mercia Police like a criminal record I was wasting my time. She wasn't being disrespectful in any way shape or form towards me she was just very honest with me from the start and didn't want me wasting money or time.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Sorry to be blunt, OP, but your Mum has unwittingly left you in an awful situation from an emotional POV.

I haven’t personally been through this situation, but as PP’s have said, in your shoes I’d consult a solicitor and I’d also come up with a solid plan on how/where your father could be housed-speak to Adult Social Care
Different scenario, but for health reasons, my Dad needed to move from a house to a retirement flat and Adult Social Care were v. helpful.

Your father is essentially homeless and they’ll have to help him as long as his savings aren’t above a certain amount (not sure what that is). If he does have too much money, they might be able to point you towards someone local who can help find a suitable home for him (you’ll have to pay for this service). It’ll be worth it though.

I’m saying all this for a couple of reasons. Firstly, he clearly does need to move somewhere more suitable given his health; secondly, he might be less likely to contest the will if he realizes that you’re trying to find a compromise and aren’t abandoning him.

However you feel about your father, he’s had a huge shock being made homeless at 77 and it must also be shocking for him to realize that your Mum neither liked nor trusted him (even if he deserved it) after 40 years together.

@JoanOfAllTrades
Your father will have to prove that he contributed in some way to the house/marriage. This could be by proving he paid towards the bills/mortgage, or perhaps he was a house husband who was responsible for the running of the household, as when a wife would support her husband in other ways that aren’t financial, by allowing the spouse to work whilst taking care of all the home duties/children

I am NOT legally trained but are you sure about that. Isn't the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants Act) 1975 more about someone who was previously supported financially either directly or indirectly (eg by being housed) by the person who has died.

It be a bit rough on I'll or disabled people who may be unable to contribute otherwise.

I wonder if it might cause a problem if your Dad needs care. Might it look like your parents were trying to avoid leaving your father with assets with which he could help fund any care he might need. Even though it's definitely not a deprivation of assets situation. I wonder if it might raise suspicions.

So sad that an abused woman can't escape her abuser even after her own death. Even if she didn't manage to leave him during her lifetime, she thought she had protected her daughter from him by making a will entirely in her daughter's favour.

Forget sad, I'm

On a more practical, and perhaps hopeful, note, where is he proposing to get the money from for the challenge?

Cripes @FakeFool, I hadn’t thought of that. OP, you must speak to a solicitor ASAP.

Offer him half of everything or watch it dissappear to lawyers. I would be astounded if he didn't win at least half the estate in a claim as that would be the assumption in a divorce following a long marriage/children etc

Different scenarios for different people have different outcomes. OP didn’t mention her father being disabled and wholly dependent on her mother financially. An argument could be made (I’m being devil’s advocate) that OP’s father has already had his share of any finances during the mother’s lifetime (this is a completely spurious example).

As I said originally, the judge is there to uphold the Law, not to be fair, or take every single scenario into account (such as too many stairs, inability to maintain (decorate) the property or anything else).

The judge will look at financial contribution, previous inheritance (the mum inherited money from her mum and inherited money is considered to be separate), the mum’s last wishes, etc., but ultimately, the mum made a Will that disinherited her spouse and judges need to also take that into account, especially because it was so long ago and mother never changed the Will. Like I said, the solicitor should have written the Will in such a way as to account for why the mum disinherited the father and that is why OP should consult with the (original) solicitor first.

Just wanted to remind everyone that OP deserves some grace. She's just lost her mum. Let me say it again. Her mum has just DIED. She obviously has an awful stressful "relationship" with her dad. She's gutted about how her mum's life turned out, and now it looks like her mum's wishes can't even be fully respected in death. OP wants her mum (and her grandmother's) legacy to be used for the benefit of her daughter. She feels like her dad has behaved horribly to her mum in life, and is continuing this pattern in death. So OP is a bit fiesty and argumentative. Again, please give her some grace here and if she writes something a bit off back to some posters, let it go.

OP, summary of this thread: (a) lawyer up, considering returning to the one who did the will (b) your dad might have a case (not morally of course, but legally, yes), (c) he may or may not have the wherewithal, financially/cognitively to pursue it, but it's a real risk that he will, (d) you might be better off trying to negotiate with him now. If you can't talk to him, is there a go-between person you can use to make him an offer, and find out what he might settle for? (e) In the meantime, continue to execute the will asap.

And OP, please, be gentle with yourself. This is an awful, shit time. You never lose the pain of losing your mum. In time you come to live with it. You know your mum would not want you stressed and upset like this. So remember to tell yourself you'll get through it, you'll work it out.

This definitely sounds like an 'oh fuck' situation @notahappybunny7

He may well have a claim, he was your mothers dependant, because effectively, she supported him, in that property for the duration of their marriage.

You need good legal advise, asap.

In your favour - to contest the will he will need cash up front which it sounds like he hasn't got.

Personally, I'd be working out what I could and would offer him to get him out of the house.

You're looking at potentially, him stuck in a house that doesn't suit him, that he refuses to leave, but that he will also fail to maintain and refuse to allow you to maintain, such that by the time he does leave, either by dying or going into care, the property has lost value/will cost you a fortune to put right.

I would want to avoid that situation at all costs!

If you have ANY evidence whatsoever that your mother was in a coercive, controlled/manipulative relationship and as such, could not get rid of him, I would use it.

My focus, in your shoes right now, would be to avoid this man costing you any more money, time and emotion, for whatever time he has left, than is necessary.

The money will go quickly if your father takes you to court. I agree you should contact a solicitor asap. Your mum stayed with him, which has consequences and he is definitely classed as vulnerable. I think you need to consider the possibility of giving him some money, perhaps even half the assets. As for a flat, if you bought one, I would charge him a reduced amount. But you need a tenancy agreement otherwise he could eventually possibly claim adverse possession.

I’m so sorry for your loss.

We can only guess what he is entitled to. Unfortunately only a wills and estates solicitor will know what to do.

He doesn’t deserve to live in the house, but sometimes the law is stupid. Hopefully you have it sorted soon.

Sorry for your loss OP.

You’ve come for advice but it seems like you’re covering your ears and not listening despite most people telling you the same thing.

Regardless of what’s fair or not, they’re married and have been married for 4 decades. That’s a long time. He has every right (in the eyes of the law) to contest the will and the outcome would most likely go in his favour.

You need real legal advice. Be prepared that you may hear something that you won’t like. All the best

Name change fail? You are Fleur lol

This happened recently to the actor Nigel Havers. His wife left everything to her children and nothing to him other than the right to stay in the house. He contested it and got a significant award. Also Fred dibnahs wife similar. I think costs were awarded against the estate too. I think if he wants to go down this path than you have a battle on your hands.