My mum's 2nd husband has died, but he never updated will

[SweetFemaleAttitude]

My mum is 76 and met her husband when she was 62. They were married for 9 years.

They had an amazing life in their older years and made each other very happy.

He had cancer on and off for a while, but his death was sudden and not expected.

He had applied for documentation to do a new will, but got took into hospital with sepsis and sadly died after a short time, without changing his will.

His wishes though were that his home, which my mum moved in to, went to his only child, on the proviso my mum could stay there as long as she wanted, whilst my mum had any other money in his bank account. They did have a joint account, but he also had his own account.

His child is the executor of his will that he made after his first wife died and sadly never got round to updating.

His daughter has already started talking about how she wants to redecorate the house (even though she resides in another country in Europe), will be travelling over to engage a solicitor and basically intimated my mum will be getting nothing.

I don't think my mum would contest the will or anything like that, as she just wants a peaceful life and has already started making arrangements to move closer to her children, but I feel like her poor husband would be turning in his grave seeing how she is being treated and that his wishes are not being followed. She cannot afford to buy and will need to rent somewhere now for the rest of her years.

Would it be worth us encouraging her to get a solicitor or with the daughter named as sole beneficiary and no updated will, would it be a waste of time?

Sorry that was long and thank you in advance to anyone who responds.

I thought a will was invalidated at marriage? So you mum will be entitled to everything as his spouse. The old Will is irrelevant.

If they were married his last will if mafe before marriage is no longer valid. Marriage invalidates wills I suggest you get some legal advice.

I thought that, unless there was specific wording to allow for future marriage, any marriage automatically revoked a will and made someone intestate.

I think she needs to see a solicitor immediately.

the old will is invalid on marriage - she needs legal advice fast before the kids spend his money!

its her house.

Yup, the marriage invalidates the existing will, presuming it was made before they married.

Yup - a marriage revokes a will. He died intestate (without a will).

https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will

use this link to figure out what your mum is entitled to.

Explained below.

If his daughter resides in another country she may not be aware of the position in this country. If she's coming over and will engage a solicitor then that will help as the solicitor will explain that the will has been invalidated. But your mum could probably just point her at the link the PP gave without saying too much more.

Thank you everyone. This is what we thought, but the bank don't seem to be bothered as his daughter is executor and I think the wording is sole trustee.

We will encourage her to seek legal advice, and she isn't bothered about the house to be honest because it was always going to go do his daughter and would just be happy to start the final chapter of her life, not worrying about money.

I will show her the info you have posted.

Thank you

If the daughter is sole trustee it suggests the assets are held in trust? Who is the beneficiary of the trust? Can't be the daughter if she is the trustee.

@CatherinedeBourgh I’m not an expert but I think some wills use executor and trustee as an interchangeable term. I’ve seen it in a relative’s will where there was no trust.

The bank are not solicitors though. Doesn't matter what the will says if it is invalid. Your mum needs legal advice pronto as if the will is invalid she has inherited under the intestacy rules and the daughter can't just crack on and ignore that.

The point is that the estate up to the value of £270k plus half the balance will transfer to her automatically by law. The daughter is not the executor because there is no valid Will. She could apply to be the estate Administrator, but so could your Mum. If the daughter starts liquidating assets then she is liable to be sued by the beneficiary - your Mum. She needs to see a solicitor yesterday to get a letter written to the daughter explaining the law and what happens next.

You should inform the bank that the will is invalid and give them the link too!

His daughter can’t act as executor, you act as executor of a will. He does not have a will. when you die intestate you have to apply for letters of administration and your Mother would be the most entitled to act as administrator.

His daughter has no authority or legal right to access his money.

https://www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate/if-theres-not-a-will

Thanks, I've never heard of it used like that.

It's certainly worth your DM taking legal advice on how to proceed with this, even if longterm she'd plan to adminster the estate herself. She needs to protect herself and ensure the safety of her home. If her husband intended to benefit his family, maybe she could make a new Will in the near future to include an element to go to them.

she might need a solicitor! When you marry, any existing will is automatically revoked (cancelled) and becomes no longer valid. If you do not make a new one, then when you die the law of intestacy decides how your assets are divided. Usually, your entire estate would go to your wife, husband or civil partner.

Please don't let your dm stand by and allow his dd to make her homeless against her dh's wishes...

You need to tell the bank pronto that the Will they have been shown is invalid because of the deceased's subsequent marriage. There is no executor or sole trustee (as there is no Will) and intestacy rules apply and that deceased's second wife is still living.

Does your DMum want to be the administrator, or appoint solicitors to that role? Or is she actually happy with the daughter doing that? Given that the daughter is attempting to use an old, invalid Will to gain control of his property, does your DMum actually trust her to do the job properly?

Executors administer the estate in accordance with the will. Trustees manage a trust.

There might be a trust created within the will, or outside of the will but forms part of the deceased estate the will can name the trustees to manage those trusts - it’s fairly typical the deceased choses the same people as the executors, but they are independent roles.

The daughter needs to be told (kindly) to back off. She is not executor - there is no executor as there is no valid will.

I suspect that legally this will be pretty clear cut, I just hope that the daughter doesn't try to make what must a difficult time for your mum, even more painful.

I'd also, if I were you, encourage your mum to stay put until its all sorted out.

Marriage won't invalidate a will that has been written in anticipation of a marriage. That seems unlikely in the circumstances.

The will needs to explicitly say that and name the person to whom they anticipate marrying.