Anyone clued up on the law around Wills?

[Ellie54320]

My parents have just started looking into setting up their will properly, this isn't something they or I really know anything about at all so we have a lot of learning to do. We will be going to see someone but I wanted to seewhat experiences people have on here or even if there are any lawyers on here who can give any advice?

Basically my parents want to leave my brothers share of the will to their granddaughter instead. There are deep rooted, personal reasons they want to do this which I do understand. They've said they're sure this is possible to do but they're very concerned that my brother will fight this after they've passed and will have the ability to do so as he has a huge amount of money behind him.

They've asked for my help but honestly I don't know where to start and I know I'll be devestated after my parents passing and don't personally know how much fight I'll have in me if he comes at me.

If anyone has any advice or suggestions it would be appreciated.

My late mil was advised that if there's an uneven split between children etc, the best thing to do is to write a very clear letter alongside the will explaining their intentions.

When I say 'comes at me' - I've been assigned Exectutor (I think that's what it's called) so I'm assuming I'll have to deal with legal issues if they arise?

@KnickerlessFlannel thank you, I've heard of this sort of thing... I always wonder how well these stand up in court though if the will is contested?

Get a proper solicitor to do it. Then there will be no ambiguity and no chance that it will be successfully challenged.

Other advice I've heard is to leave a small amount to the brother in this case. Say £200 that way it's clear that he is not forgotten but this was their clear intention.
Solicitor is clearly very important though to get this drawn up properly

If you exclude someone from a Will that would expect to be included (like your brother perhaps) he can contest the Will on various grounds. He can for example claim undue influence or pressure was exerted to exclude him or that your parents didn't have capacity when making their Will.

Your brother, as their child, can also contest the Will on the basis that "reasonable provision" wasn't made for him and that would be up to the court to decide. Your parents should definitely have their Will drafted by a professional and probably a letter of wishes would be kept with the Will explaining why your parents excluded your brother.

They need to leave a letter of wishes and maybe some money to your brother but say that anyone who challenges the will will lose any money they have been left. Depending on their age it might be prudent to have their GP test their mental capacity.

Is it his daughter they want to leave the money to?

The above assumes your in England? Scots law is different on disinheriting children.

We've recently had something similar in he family. DF had a GP's letter to say he was of sound mind to change his will and made the will thru a solicitor with a letter to at why.

You cab only challenge a will due to financial reasons if you were previously dependent on the deceased. So if your brother has plenty of money he's not losing out. But definitely make the wills with an experienced solicitor. Being executor you can only carry out the wishes as set out in the will.

You can't change the dispersments because someone is cross. No one is entitled to an inheritance (in the UK anyway)

I agree with the poster who said get your parents to write an accompanying letter detailing why they are not giving any money to your brother. My uncle did this - he didn't leave any money to his eldest daughter as he had given her thousands over the years to support her family. She embarrassed him over and over again, letting her children down awfully, became bankrupt, fiddled her benefits, went to court on several occasions and never worked. Uncle left his money to his two other children and gave each of the grandchildren a small sum. He wrote a 4 page letter to accompany the will detailing all the financial support he had given his daughter confirming it was his intention not to include her. It was never contested when he died.

Any idiot can try, but successful will challenges are very rare. (Assuming that the law where you are allows people to will their assets as they please and doesn't mandate children as heirs; English law differs from Scots law here). The challenger would have to not only propose but prove either that there was undue influence or that they were financially dependent on the deceased, is my understanding. If the will is professionally written, the writer was clearly of sound mind at the time of writing, a letter of wishes accompanies the will, and a token bequest is made to make it clear the exclusion of the child is deliberate and not an oversight, I think a successful challenge would be vanishingly unlikely.

However, it's a truism that in will challenges the only winners are the lawyers, and even an unsuccessful challenge can tie up the estate in time and legal fees for some time. It's not unknown for estates to make a settlement offer even against a weak claim to put an end to the whole thing.

Thanks all, I'm in England. A lot of very good advice there, thank you.

Is there a reason you have to be the executor? Might it be easier for you if someone else dealt with it?

but say that anyone who challenges the will will lose any money they have been left

Phew! That's not going to work is it?

You really [unless the estate is of trivial value] need to have this done by a Solicitor.

Unless your brother is disabled or has some other life limiting disability and is lacking money then it is unlikely that he could successfully claim for "reasonable provision". From your description that does not appear to be the case.

"We will be going to see someone"

Can I suggest that you go and see a suitably experienced solicitor. There is a body called the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) who specialise in everything to do with wills and inheritances.

If you google something like "STEP solicitor [name of your town]" that should provide with you names of local solicitors.

Marlowe Wills is mumblechum a long-standing mnetter. She'd be able to help you.

My sister did this, and provided a letter to my niece, to be handed over when my sister dies, to explain why the decision has been made. Her solicitor said the letter makes it more unlikely for my niece to challenge the will.

Absolutely have them go to a proper solicitor to have this written, plus any side letters required. It needs to be completely clear and incontestable.

As executor, your duty is just to implement it.

No you won't have to, you can engage a solicitor to deal with it all on your behalf. They do everything, and you sign the paperwork. So if there are any potential issues, they will be able to sort the legal side out no problem.

All your parents need to do is make it crystal clear to the solicitor why they want to leave the money to some people and not others, and leave specific instructions. Funds can be left in a trust with a nominated trustee and/or a solicitor can do that as well.

Wills can only be challenged in certain circumstances, and not just because somebody is furious that they have been left out.

Basically my parents want to leave my brothers share of the will to their granddaughter instead. There are deep rooted, personal reasons they want to do this which I do understand. They've said they're sure this is possible to do but they're very concerned that my brother will fight this after they've passed and will have the ability to do so as he has a huge amount of money behind him.

You can't contest a will just because you don't like what it says.
(Well you can, but you won't win).

We have an additional
Clause that reads if mr and mrs gin die together with their DC then under no circumstances should it pass to Mr X.
The estate should pass instead to abc.

Under intestacy law it would pass to DHs brother and there is no way on this earth we'd want that to happen.
Your parents need to add a clause not only re the grandchildren but what happens if you pass away before they do. (Sorry!)
I only found this out at a solicitors appointment recently, There's a rule that it passes down the male line (believe it or not!) if the beneficiaries named cannot inherit.
So if husband wife and kids died then it goes to husbands side first unless there is another named beneficiary.

Are you a lawyer? I’m not but I’m not sure about this advice.

@Ellie54320 as pp have said seek legal advice. I’d also suggest they appoint another executor. Either alongside or ideally instead of you. It’s a gruelling job, even more so if there’s likely to be drama.

This happened in my family. An additional clause was added at the end of the Will to explain why the particular person was excluded. The solicitor's advice was to have the clause within the Will itself - properly signed and witnessed.

The person was furious and as executor I had to deal with that. But it wasn't contested.

@Lamelie , I’m not but this was the advice given to my dad by his lawyer. After my dad died my brother challenged his will and lost. I thought my experience could be helpful to the OP.