Help with Dads will

[Honeypot86]

My dad (77) is currently in hospital and after visiting him last night he said he wanted to change his will as it currently states everything is to be left to his wife and my oldest sister.

I don't know what money he has but he has a property that he has had for 40 years which he lives in with his wife of 7 years. He has asked his wife for a divorce several times and doesn't want her to get anything but doesn't know where to go with this legally. His wife just ignores his request, because he hasn't been well for the past 18 months he doesn't put up a fight.

Just to add my dad has been very manipulative with all his kids over the years, who ever is flavour of the month he says he's leaving everything too but he is now saying he wants to do the right thing and split his will equally between his kids and not include his wife. The house is in his name and she hasn't paid anything towards any bills since she has been there.

My question is can he change his will without his wife being present? He doesn't want to leave his wife homeless so he wants something like she can live there as long as she needs but the house goes to his kids. Also do we need a solicitor to do this?

He does need a solicitor and I'd suggest he gets the ball rolling on this asap.

The solicitor needs to check that he is of sound mind and not being influenced by anyone, so I'd ensure he speaks to the solicitor alone (eg without you or his wife being there).

You could do it without a solicitor but that wouldn’t be recommended especially as it sounds like the new terms will cause conflict and could be disputed if not done properly.

It sounds quite dodgy when your father is ill in hospital. Why was only your oldest sister included in the existing will?

why not involve the oldest sister and ask her to help organise a solicitor?

Giving his ex a lifetime interest in the marital home and then splitting the inheritance between his kids when have dies sounds fair

Although giving his wife an interest in the house so that she isn't homeless, sounds like a nice idea, in practical terms it can be fraught with problems.
For instance, what age is the wife, might she live for another twenty or thirty years?
While she is living in the house, who will be responsible for the property's maintenance and any required updating?
Would you and your siblings be able to afford to maintain the property, possibly for years, without getting any financial benefits from it for some time?

Does his wife own property she could move to?
It might be better from your point of view, to give her a limited time to live there, say a year, before the house must be sold and the proceeds divided amongst the beneficiaries.

Your Dad really needs a solicitor to draw up the will as it could be complicated. Hopefully your Dad will consult with all concerned so he is fair to all of you.

He needs a solicitor. He could ring for an appointment to a local solicitor and they will come to do it in a hospital and provide a witness too. He needs to do this asap. He doesn't need to tell his wife because a will is private but it would be a courtesy to inform her once he's got it done and signed. He needs to appoint an executor too.

You can't the wife - just not right.
Besides she could contest the will tie it all up fir a good while v

While she is living in the house, who will be responsible for the property's maintenance and any required updating?

She will be.

Would you and your siblings be able to afford to maintain the property, possibly for years, without getting any financial benefits from it for some time?

Since OP and her siblings will not be responsible for maintenance, this question is irrelevant.

@Honeypot86 - He doesn't need his wife's consent to divorce. It is a straightforward process. Regardless of whether he divorces her, she does not have to be present if he changes his will. However, if they divorce she will be entitled to a slice of the assets of the marriage, so everything he owns will go into the pot to be split between them, as would everything she owns. If he does not divorce her but cuts her out of his will completely, she can make a claim against his estate for reasonable financial provision. This is likely to be similar to the amount she would have received if they had divorced.

And of course, it depends on how the house is owned. If it's owned jointly rather than 'in common' then it goes to her anyway.

Solicitor could change that, of course, but it does need to be fully executed

Because like I say she must have been flavor of the month at the time, he is very selfish that way. She was always going to share it with us

If he really wanted a divorce then he'd be doing it so I'd be asking what really is going on.

I doubt he can leave nothing to his wife but he needs advice and fast.

His wife has only been in his life for the past 7 years and hasn't contributed a penny to anything. Without sounding awful her and dad aren't the brightest bunch he wouldn't know how to enforce a divorce which is why I'm asking

This is good advice.

If his prognosis is good, he should consider seeing a family law solicitor also and start his divorce if that is what he wants.

He needs to get this ball rolling asap. They will come to the house or in this case the hospital to meet with him. He may have to prove he is of sound mind though. Not sure what the requirements are for this. Hence move quickly. I'd help him tomorrow. You don't need the old will to do a new one. But could be helpful to use the same company as the last time.

The divorce process is straightforward. He will have no trouble getting a divorce and there is nothing she can do to stop it. However, he needs a financial settlement as well if he wants to ensure that his wife does not have any claim on his estate. As others say, he should consult a solicitor.

This will fail unless it's done by a solicitor, otherwise it will be contested by the widow (with the help of her own relatives if she has them)

He's best not to divorce as she will definitely get a share but he should get a lawyer to draw up a watertight will ASAP.

I would get a solicitor to go to the hospital for an initial consultation. Obviously it will.cost but the sooner he sorts this out the better.

If he doesn't divorce her she will have a claim against his estate that is likely to give her at least as much as she would have got on divorce.