AIBU to ask if I could contest my mother’s will?

[impossibletocontest]

Is it always impossible to contest a will in England.
I’ve been told I will not be inheriting and that my brother will be the sole beneficiary. He has a good very well paid job as does his wife, own their own home and are comfortable. Dm has a large estate so he will inherit a large amount.

I live in HA accommodation, with one child (disabled and SEN) plus I have a physical disability which is progressive and I can only work PT so reliant on UC top ups and will probably end up totally reliant when health deteriorates further.

I know England is difficult with this issue is there any chance a court would look at the situation and see that it’s fair to award me something?

ive been told that I won’t even be able to get a caveat before probate as they won’t tell me immediately on the death of dm so the assets will already have been given ? They are very low contact with me so I think they’ll absolutely do this. Is there anything now I can do or do I have to just accept that I will always struggle and my brother gets everything. As a child I was my DM carer as she had alcohol and MH issues so I feel really really used and cast aside.
She is 84 now and in poor health and the only contact I get is her telling me how I won’t get anything from her .

They are this is a legal board where solicitors do participate and are known to be so by regulars on here

why are you offering an unqualified opinion on a legal board, you are all just sounding incredibly ill informed and light on comprehension skills.

The solicitors are providing case law to back up their advice.

Go back AIBU where you can hound, judge and spew spittle, without qualification or knowledge.

I don’t have any legal expertise so leave that bit to the experts but just to let you know that even if you did somehow inherit your UC would be stopped and you would be told that money had to last you x number of years. If you got through it sooner you wouldn’t get any universal credit so it could leave you in a sticky situation.

At least your mum has told you in advance, but it’s a bit mean to keep bringing it up. I would just repeat ‘You’ve already told me your wishes, it’s your money, you get to do what you like with it…’

Oh dear ...

Yep

Most of the advice on this thread is just wrong and should be ignored. As stated above, I urge you to speak to a specialist solicitor soon after your mother’s death to assess the likelihood of making a successful claim.

Again and again and again you are on a legal board and are legally wrong.

She doesn’t want you to have anything, how incredibly disrespectful to be trying to contest her will before she has even died.

maybe this type of behaviour is why you have been cut off. Shameful!

Professional caution means no lawyer is going to say definitively that OP does have a case on the basis of the information posted, but it certainly looks like she does. And potentially is a lot closer to saying she does have a case than saying she doesn't, which is what so many on here have wrongly said.

Thanks for showing back up it so tiresome but i feel a need to defend the integrity of this board.

I agree, tried earlier and gave up. Posters do not read the title of the board (LEGAL), never read the thread and offer ‘advice’ without any legal knowledge.

( and disgracefully, that is without those that just want to kick someone who is in a difficult place).

I stand by my view, expressed earlier, that there should be a ‘turn comments off’ button.

Your memory is incorrect. The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975 (to give it its correct name) allows a spouse or former spouse of the deceased, a civil partner or former civil partner of the deceased, a child of the deceased, anyone who has been treated by the deceased as a child of the family and anyone who was dependent on the deceased at the time of death to make a claim for reasonable financial provision. Members of the final category clearly need to prove they were financially dependent on the deceased in order to make a claim. Members of other categories do not.

The courts initially took the view that adult children who were not dependent on the deceased parent at the time of death had no claim against their estate. However, starting with Ilott, that view has changed and the courts are increasingly willing to entertain claims from adult children who can demonstrate a genuine financial need even if they were completely estranged from the deceased and not in any way dependent on them.

Yes but if one does that then the twit posters go unchallenged.

I think the problem is that in trending it still shows as AIBU which attracts a whole different crowd of, might i suggest, numpties.

I am going to go on site stuff about this.

I like to think this is a legal space advice weak or otherwise but well meant

What if she leaves the op £1 ?

Sorry op your mother sounds bloody awful. She is deliberately going to leave you struggling she has no love for you. Unfortunately you got the bad mother and db got the better version of her. Maybe you could write to them both a letter explaining your situation and remind them if it weren’t for you your db could have ended up in care and you and your mother would have never got better. You have nothing to lose now just say if your going to be happy to know that me and my disabled child will struggle for the rest of our lives because you don’t love us then that’s on you. If I don’t hear from either of you I will never get back in touch and I will not contest the will I will remember you both as heartless people and never forgive you for leaving me nothing. Tell your mum you could not have a childhood because you were too busy being her carer and looking after your brother. Say I love you both but it seems it’s not how you feel about me.

So you haven’t read any of OP’s updates then ?

Lovely therapeutic style offering. But what has this to do with the law which this board is about.

I did not previously know about the 1975 Act, which is fascinating. If a clear letter of wishes is appended to the Will, would that make it harder to make a claim under the Act? Or is it all about the claimant’s need? In the cases cited, there does seem to have been some indication that they intended to provide for the claimant, even if the Will didn’t cover their needs sufficiently. But in the OP’s case, it seems clear that her mother does not intend to provide for her. Does that change things?

I would say it makes the OP's case stronger, particularly as she has a serious illness

No there is as @prh47bridge pointed out, the common law has shifted significantly where an adult child is poor and in ill health (and mostly can show parental behaviour has limited there child’s own success in life)

I have a friend whose mother cut her out of her will because she is a feckless lesbian. (Both are true)

But her mother’s solicitor advised against that because her feckless lesbian daughter was vulnerable and poor and her mothers carer.

You haven't really got a case.

Yes she has try reading the whole LEGAL THREAD

Sorry but you have to respect this. You have no right to her money and it's clear that she actively wants to ensure you get nothing. She could keave it all to a donkey sanctuary or to cancer research, and that would be fine. She is choosing to leave it to your brother. It is certainly possible to contest a will. If a will lists each or 7 nephews/nieces by name and the 8th isn't named for example, the missing one can sometimes argue that this was an accidental administrative oversight. If you had been recieving regular financial support from your mum for years without which you would find it impossible to manage financially, you could then argue for a reasonable portion to replace that support. But in this case you have no grounds to contest the will whatsoever.

Have no legal knowledge, but my opinion is that it seems very unfair that someone is entitled to challenge a parent’s wishes in a will so that they will benefit from it. We only have OPs version of events. The mother may have a whole different story to tell. Surely if the mother put on record, in addition to the will, the reason why she hasn’t named OP in the will, that should also be taken into account if the will is challenged following death? Otherwise OP could tell any cock and bull tale after the mother’s death to ensure the will is overturned.

this is a legal board not AIBU. You are ill informed not read the thread.

So you have no legal knowledge and commit on legal board ?????????????