My brother has just been shafted out of £29k , I’m really angry.

[AchillesLastStand]

My Dad died in June this year from Alzheimer’s and left a valid will from 1993 leaving his estate of £115k to shared equally between his two children. My brother and stepbrother are down as executors. Since he died my two stepbrothers, the executor one and the other one have been making demands on the estate, as large as 75%. Now tonight, after 5 months of fighting them , my brother waves the white flag of defeat and offers them 25% of our inheritance without even asking me. I’m furious with my brother. He can just give away his sister’s inheritance without at least talking to me first. It’s the lack of communication that hurts the most.

What would you do? I can’t get them both removed as executors because the legal costs are enormous and it has to go to the high court. They have however acted illegally and are guilty of gross misconduct. I’m not sure I can even speak to my brother again after such a betrayal. It isn’t what we agreed.

It sounds as though you need current legal advice now, you ought to get a session with a solicitor for not too much money.

I haven’t read everything, but have you, your brother and stepbrother thought of Mediation in this case (if not too late, of course). Mediation has a very, very good success rate, and is MUCH cheaper than the legal route.

Wills and families seem to bring up so much upset. Hope it’s all resolved. 🌺

PS Perhaps look at the Channel 5 TV series, ‘Inheritance - who gets the money’ on catch-up. It’s a dramatised documentary series. Very good, lots of different case histories, some very sad stories from all walks of life, and some sensible outcomes.

NB there is a drama series with a similar name, ‘Inheritance’, which is probably great, but isn’t the documentary series.

You really need to see a solicitor.

Why should they? They’ve already had their share from their mother

Yeah, if he feels so strongly about it then he can pay it out of his share.

Solicitors letter will sort this. You step brothers are nice aren't they, not? How twisted are they?

Good luck, but uour brother can't hand over your inheritance. Don't give them anything. If your dad wanted them to have something, he'd have left it for them...

I'm currently going through a will disagreement and it is long and painful and very expensive - we used a paid upfront solicitor but other party used no win no fee - I would ask for some advice from online legal forum and use a no win solicitor if necessary - don't just take it there are so many laws to protect you

Absolutely do not worry it’s fine. Executors are tasked with carrying out the contents of the Will and nothing more. They cannot vary the contents of the Will. It is possible to vary a Will legally through a document called a deed of variation - but all the beneficiaries of the original Will must agree to this variation and sign that they do so. Without your agreement, signed by you and witnessed the original Will stands. Hope that helps

It's not correct that all the beneficiaries have to agree to any variation of the will. Only the beneficiaries affected by the variation have to agree.

So, of the brother wants to divert his share, or a part of, to the steps, he can do that by deed (or just a gift from his own money after he's dealt with the estate) and the OP needs have no part of it as her inheritance won't be impacted.

You need to see a solicitor & ask for a caveat to be placed on the will explaining that you understand that the estate will not being distributed in accordance with your late father's wishes. I had to do this when my mum passed away & my step-dad tried to screw my sister & myself over. You can also apply for them to be removed as executors & arrange for, say, a solicitor to be executor instead. But please do it as a matter of urgency before they get their hands on the funds. Unfortunately, noney brings out people's true colours. I'm so sorry for your loss.
Good luck x

People who are saying that OP is being very grabby, do you consider the Stepsons to also be grabby? Or is OP the only grabby person in this situation? Is it because the Stepsons might be breadwinners who provide for their families or something and so it's seen as socially acceptable for them to aim for something from the estate? As opposed to OP being a stay at home mum with a husband to provide so it's seen as better for her to be a family peacemaker and not dispute?

This happened to my mum.her dad remarried and when he died,sm family swooped in and stole anything worth taking including his war medals and sold them.they transferred all money from his and my mums bank account,his war pension went in and mum paid his bills and shopping.this because sm moved in with him and had no money and paid for nothing,they moved all his pensions to Sm accounts,then they said their was no money for his funeral so mum had to pay it all.make sure a will is in place

err no, that's nothing like what's happened to OP.

Sorry was meant as reply to someone else.

To vary the Will after your father died needs a legal agreement. They can contest the Will but the grounds to do this are v specific and they wd prob fail. They could make a claim under the Inheritance Act but again prob wouldn't succeed. If your brother wants to give them £ once probate is complete and signed off that's his call. Otherwise they wd need to make legal challenges now which will cost them (and you) £ and they have no guarantee they'll succeed. They may also have missed the timing windows to make claims.

Step siblings are not biologically related, so these would have been children of OP's father's partner (wife) which wasn't OP's mum, and HER original partner - no biological relationship to either OP or her father.