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?

She lived with and stuck by him for 4 decades, for better or for worse. Regardless of whether it was a happy marriage or not, he has a right to continue living in the house, and likely a large claim over much of her estate.

This has probably already been suggested, but why don’t you compromise with him. If you agree to give him lifetime tenancy he has to transfer the title into your name.

You will have to wait to get the house, but this way you will get it. I would suggest it then let him think about it. Once he realises he will probably have to sell the house to pay for legal fees he might agree. But make sure the house it’s actually transferred into your name. Don’t trust him to leave the house to you.

Your dad is 76 and blind and was completely dependent on your mum for many years.He is going to need a lot of money for care costs .I think he has a good enough case that he will ve able to find a lawyer to represent him

It's not as simple as 'contesting a will' - does he have money to do this? Do YOU have money to get him out or defend his claim?

I made some enquiries for a friend recently whose spouse had died, but they're not explicitly mentioned in the will. I was told it would cost around £50k in legal fees to make a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. The estate was much, much smaller than yours.

So, while he may have the 'right' to, he may not have the means to. Seek your own legal advice and get an idea of costs your end. How much a court order to get him out and sell would be, and throw him a bone of say £5k-10k to go away (payable from the house sale) - not enough that he can use those funds to go after the rest of the estate if he doesn't have anything else!!

I think your mum should have left you her house in her will but given him the right to live there during his lifetime.

It seems wrong to try to evict him from his home at his age, seeing as he was her husband until she died. I think the law will agree with that but I’m no lawyer so you need to get legal advice.

I’m sure you will get the house one day but not necessarily yet.

I’m afraid you need to see a solicitor asap and prepare for this to be long and drawn out. My mum we in a similar situation when her dad passed away, he owned the house for around 60 years, and had a wife who he married in the last 10/15 years of his life (not my mums mum). She needed up having to give her 50% of the house.

Nigel Havers was, unlike the OP's father, left a lifetime interest in his wife's home. The court awarded him more than that. He and his wife were only married for 15 years and a well known, still working actor was in a much better position at the time of his wife's death than a blind, unemployed 77 year old would be. The costs came out of the estate.

Nigel Havers' case

sadly it’s not about fair , it’s about the system ( whatever you want to call it ) not leaving a vulnerable person more vulnerable.
if the inheritance money has always been kept in a very separate account with a clear paper trail you may have a chance of keeping that ring fenced. You may also need to look at this money as a way to pay your SD a settlement . A likely outcome will be some kind of settlement. I’m not a lawyer but went through something similar 2 years ago . I spent about 1000 pounds on legal advice , followed that legal advice and I’m happy enough with the outcome. It does sound like you SD has limited means so he may wish to settle as quickly as possible.

You could post this in legal but honestly get some advice in real life . Try to keep a business like head on and not an emotional one , If you stand your ground over what you think is fair on you / your Mum , you may lose more in the end .

I'll be honest. In his situation I'd contest the will even if I had to use a no win, no fee place. It's been his home for 40 years, they've been together that long, they had an arrangement as far as who contributed what, and as the next of kin in his position, I wouldn't feel bad about it either. What if you offered him to live in there for as long as he is able to and you will sell the house when he either goes into care or dies? It might be the best way to keep possession and avoid a contest if you don't want to offer him some of the capital in settlement. (But don't do any of this until you've spoken to a solicitor).

I've been married to my own husband for 30+ years and you bet I wouldn't give up on what is 'ours' without a fight.

I would see if you can arrange something with him. Seek legal advice .

You need to go get legal advice from a specialist.

It depends how the house was legally owned. If held as joint tenants your mum couldn't leave it to you as it passed legally to df. The money could be different.

Pay for proper legal advice now as you'll really need to know the correct position to do anything x

Whatever you do at this point I think it’s safe to say your relationship with your father is over.

I assume you were nc with him if you’re prepared to throw him out of the house he’s lived in for 4 decades because you feel that you deserve it?

Nobody is covering themselves in glory here. The marriage may have been shit but she stayed for 40 years. Nobody knows what goes on in someone else’s marriage but it’s really easy to say in hindsight that the marriage was awful and that she’d wanted to leave therefore you should throw him out now and have the house and all the money. She didn’t leave. That’s all that matters at this point. And disinheriting your husband who has disabilities, has never been able to work and has been dependent on you (talking about the mother here) for the whole of the marriage is a really shitty thing to do.

There are plenty of no win no fee solicitors who would take on a case like this. And given the circumstances he is almost certain to win, and any costs would purely be taken out of the estate.

I’m sorry to say this OP but your mum has put you in a really shit situation and has left you to do her dirty work for her. She didn’t have the guts to leave so now she’s made sure to put a wedge between you and your dad by leaving you to sort out her mess.

It’s a really shit situation.

I get your bitterness towards your father and the unfairness after how horribly he treated your late mother, I’m so sorry for your loss, but it’s my understanding that he will have a claim under The Inheritance Act as he will have had the expectation of being supported. Likely he will require somewhere to live, mortgage free and some capital. When you said you would put him up in a flat, are you intending to purchase one for him?

You do know that arguing the toss with people on mumsnet won’t change the legal position right? The only thing I would say is that if he is as useless and lazy as you say there’s a chance contesting the will will be too much like hard work. But yeah, get yourself to a solicitor, today.

Agree with all pp’s that the house and money is seen as a joint asset if they were still married.. deffo get legal advice. I’m confused as to whether they were together or not when she passed away? If not legally divorced I think he is legally her next of kin. X

As they were married, the house is 1/2 his regardless of what he paid into it.

Your mum couldn't legally write all of it to you but her half would be yours I believe. The money I'm not sure. If it counts as marital assets then maybe you could get half of that.

I suggest you speak to a solicitor about her will and what can happen legally.

After a 40 year marriage?

There obviously a long and difficult story, but goodness that's harsh. You need proper legal advice.

TBH I think it’s a greater loss than that. I don’t think that someone who lands the burden of having to face a legal challenge and the destruction of any relationship with the person left behind has exactly behaved well here. This would change my opinion of my mum regardless of the loss at this point.

If the mum had given him a lifetime interest in the house and then left it to the OP things would have been far easier to resolve. But as things stand she’s thrown a bomb into her dauhter’s life and given her the responsibility of screwing her dad over. It’s a shit thing for her to have done and will likely taint the memories the OP has of her mum.

Im so sorry you are going through this OP and for the loss of your DM 💐

It surely isn’t hard to see OPs anger is not with posters on here but because she’s lost her DM and is while she’s coping with this, she’s up against the man who her abused her DM wanting the house that her DM worked hard for. Over their marriage, he made OPs DMs life hell, contributed the minimum and potentially gets the same share as a loving, supportive partner would. It may be the law, but its bound to hurt like hell.

Yes advice is really needed but so is compassion. I’ve been in a situation where my ex plundered a huge chunk of my parents assets before they died, and I have never felt such burning hot fury in my life. OP get some advice and make it clear that this man may be likely to try prolong any legal proceedings to burn his way through the money in the estate, if he doesn’t get his way. I hope you get as much of what your DM wanted to leave to you and your DD as possible.

Shouldn't it have been on the solicitor who drew up the will to anticipate this and make a plan for it?

Few points

He doesn’t own the house - she can leave it to whoever. We don’t have community of property in this country and you don’t gain a share in your spouse’s assets.

BIG BUT

He has a very strong claim under the Inheritance Provision for Family and Dependents Act 1975 as a surviving spouse. Would be likely to be in the region of what he’d have got on divorce and for a long marriage that’s about half. As I say, very strong claim and you’d be very foolish to fight that - I’d try to settle asap, you might get away with giving him a bit less than half but you have to give something.

OR

His financial contributions might give him a constructive trust (ie a share) of the home but 1975 Act is much more straightforward here.

AND

Legal costs are huge and unless you stop being overly emotional about this, the assets will be eaten up. Get initial advice. It’s for him to apply under the 1975 Act so you can get on with executing the Will. He has 6 months from grant of probate to apply although it can be extended in rare circumstances.

In no expert, but from what I understand if your dad has contributed to the upkeep of the house and utility bills then he will have a claim on the property.

He must have an account his benefits are paid into, and unless he withdrew cash to give to your mum for his share of the bills, then this is all traceable.

As others have said you really need to see a solicitor (maybe go back to the one that your mum made the will with, did they not advise her this could happen?)

For your dad to dispute this, he will need some money for legal costs, but I’m sure there are many no win no fees that would snap this up.

The money for the solicitor will come from the estate.

Try re-reading but reversing the genders - you cannot evict somebody from their home because they didn't work in paid employment while they were married.

To add to this, many no, win, no fee solicitors would take this in as he has a very strong case.

And if she had dealt with him and divorced him he’d have got half of everything.

it will be a messy legal fight, he has a claim and will probably win at least half.

get legal advice, it might be prudent to offer him half to stop a legal challenge? But see what a solicitor says.