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 .

Take legal advice. You might have a case but usually the cases that succeed involve the adult child being disabled in some way.

OP clearly does have legal grounds to make a claim against her mother's estate as set out in the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act. No-one on here can say for sure whether a claim will succeed, but she clearly has grounds.

Just because she has a large estate and you live on benefits doesn't mean you should inherit. If she's of sound mind and has made the decision then it's tough. There must me more to this though, not sure why a mother would just disinherit one child unless there was a back story

But you should be able to check the government register every week or month to see if she has died.

IAAL but not in this area. I have had some dealings with the issue but as others have said you’d need a properly experience lawyer to advise fully.

That said, on the basis of your comments so far there seems to be no credible basis for challenge, seeking legal advice would likely be a costly waste.

your best bet would be to throw yourself on the mercy of your mother and explain how difficult your life is and how much you’d appreciate her support after her death. I

I am LC with my own parents and understand how difficult this would be, but in all likelihood it’s the only way you have even a chance of inheritance

In the case that went to the Supreme Court, Ilott vs The Blue Cross and Others, Mrs Ilott was not disabled. However, around 80% of her household income came from benefits. That led to her being awarded £50,000 from her mother's estate.

What makes you think OP does not have a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act?

In general you only have six months after the grant of probate is issued to bring a claim, but courts will consider claims after this time limit if there is a good reason, so if they deliberately conceal her death from you to prevent you bringing a claim within the 6 months don’t let that put you off seeking legal advice.

Does she have a the money and the time and resources to fear the theory ? The op already has significant health issues is taking care of a disabled child and living on benefits. What would really be in the best interests of op ?

I am a qualified solicitor practicing in this area and I recommend you speak to a reputable solicitor after your mother’s death. They will take all the details and if they think you have a decent chance of success they will pursue the matter, if they think there is no chance then the matter will go no further.

You may have to pay for their assessment but it’s worth it for proper advice and so you don’t waste time and money on a claim that has no chance.

The court is definitely becoming more sympathetic to adult children (as someone else said, look at Howe v Howe) so it is worth having your circumstances properly assessed. It may also be the case that your brother gives you something just to go away and avoid the hassle of litigation.

I can't comment on whether she has the time, but there are solicitors who will take on her case on a no win, no fee basis if they believe she has a decent chance of winning.

My Mother changed her will and left everything to her favourite child. It was no surprise to myself and one sister, there were six of us. I am the sensible one and the most well off, they wanted to contest. I spoke to two solicitors, free advice and somehow managed to speak to the solicitor who had drawn up her newer will and he said he would deem her compos mentis. I persuaded them to not contest, I also said I was not prepared to do the leg work as I knew they would expect it. There was a time I looked after my Mother when my stepfather died and she had a breakdown, I had a younger sister to care for as well. The others had all left home and didn’t help really as had very young families. I’m like you and was the one that endured her but my attitude is not like yours.

I know one person who has successfully contested a will, very complicated and also in Scotland and and they have different laws. But they and the other sibling who was cut out had to each stump up 30k in solicitors fees. They did win and the estate was then split three ways with the majority going to the favoured child but these two did each get 500k.

I would say you have no case, morality has nothing to do with inheritance.

Her parents were wealthy and she was an only child so she inherited a lot from them, she also then married someone who had a successful business and he died 10 years ago so she has done well for herself via others

Another non-lawyer telling OP she doesn't have a claim.

In England and Wales, the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act gives children of the deceased the right to make a claim against the estate if the will fails to make adequate financial provision for them. In most cases, a claim by an adult child who is not dependent on the parent will fail. However, where the child is in financial difficulties and dependent on benefits, the courts may make an award.

Oh OP, I feel for you, it's so unfair. How could any mother leave her ill daughter and disabled child needing financial help when leaving their substantial assets entirely to a son who definitely doesn't need it all. No decent mother does this, unfortunately, like I had, you have a horrible, horrible mother.

In my case, my father had made their money, then lost most of it setting up my narcissist brother in business. They almost lost everything but my father managed to make a reasonable amount before he died, leaving my mother comfortable. Since then, her "difficult" behaviour got worse and worse and eventually I realised she was a covert narcissist and she was so abusive I had to walk away. Letters to her accomplished nothing and she lied to everyone about me.

When she died, she gave a few bequests including a token sum for me, and left the rest to said brother. There is one relative who is still in touch with me, and she know mother made a new will just weeks before she died. But she told people that her son made her do it. There are messages from him to people saying she was dying, very confused, weak etc.

So I engaged solicitors to see if I had any case. It turned out her solicitors came to her house, satisfied themselves that she was compos mentis, and noted that "despite her efforts I had staunchly refused to engage" and her heart was broken etc. etc. My solicitor advised that I could pay a lot for a higher legal opinion, but she felt strongly that I would be highly unlikely to win anything; people are allowed to leave their money to whoever they want, even though it can be completely immoral. The token amount she left me would show that she had "provided for me".

Unlike your case, there wasn't a huge amount involved, but it would have made a difference to my children so I felt very sad about that, but ultimately I wasn't prepared to throw good money after bad so I didn't challenge the will. My brother has pissed off almost all the family since, he is a horrible person and will die miserable.

I suspect you would receive the same advice as I have unfortunately.

The only thing I can suggest is to write to your mother and ask her to consider your needs and your child's needs, that you regret you don't have a closer relationship but hope "as a mother" she will leave you some consideration to help in your challenging life, and help enable you to think of her kindly - or words to that effect. I reckon you've nothing to lose (and understand about your brother not being willing to help, it's just horrible how some people are). Good luck.

Has she definitely made a will? Her life sounds very chaotic, she may not have made one and is just using this to be unkind to you. Your brother and mum sound awful OP, I couldn't imagine treating my daughter like this.

Solicitors on this thread have a different opinion and have cited 'Howe v Howe' which the disinherited daughter won. OP may have an even stronger case as she was a child carer for her mum from the ages of 6 to 18. She also has a disabled child herself.

@impossibletocontest In case you do not know @prh47bridge is a frequent visiting solicitor, and i have never seen his advice be incorrect. You are best to ignore a lot of the posters on here as they do not know what they are talking about.

You may well have a case and there are specialist solicitors who deal with this and some will be able to get an indemnity insurance to take your case. (Which is what one of my cousins did, and won an award)

For info, in Scotland children have a right to a share of one half of their deceased parent’s moveable estate if there is no surviving spouse or a share of one third if there is. If, as seems to be the case, the mother is single and has 2 children, the OP would be entitled to 1/4 of the moveables which is basically money and personal possessions.

@impossibletocontest , my parents wills left everything to each other and initially then on the second death a sum to each grandchild and the remainder divided between my brother and myself.
My parents were both very unwell at the same time, my mother died and my father was disabled and suffering from cancer. My dear brother (a practicing Christian) and his children washed their hands of my dad who came to live with me and for whom I cared for the last, difficult years of his life. My father was understandably hurt by their behaviour and decided to write a new will which he did with a specialist solicitor. I took him (he could get nowhere on his own) but I refused to go in with him, I also told him that I did not want a penny more than had been in the original will because he had said he would leave it all to me.
I am sharing this with you OP so that you know to what extent it is possible to protect your wishes under these circumstances. It seems to me that this is the sort of thing your mother may well have done. The solicitor advised him to obtain proof of capacity from his GP which he did, he was also advised to write a letter alongside his will outlining why he had come to his decision. He did this and it was brutal. He left my brother £100K but nothing to his children, I was left as I had requested not a penny more than I would have originally received. The remainder an amount each far in excess of their uncle’s share was divided between my children. My father’s will also stipulated that should anyone challenge the will and lose they would forfeit anything they had been left. I told my father outright that should this happen I would give my brother £100K anyway.
When dad died my nephew obtained a caveat, as he had been left nothing he had nothing to lose. There was a relatively small extra expense for us with the solicitors but after having read the handwritten letter my father left the caveat was withdrawn. They can never unread that letter and I feel sorry for them and that really they got what they asked for in equal measure.
As has been said previously you should really take legal advice, I certainly can’t offer more than my experience of a will challenge.
We only have your version of events, I think it likely that your mother will include a letter alongside her will which details hers. Elsewhere the right of children to inherit is enshrined in law, not so in the U.K. and in my opinion that is how it should be. I was 28 when it dawned on me that life isn’t ‘fair’ and that the responsibility for my happiness lay in my own hands. Do get some legal advice but please also get some help to come to terms with your past and try to find a way to move forward. It sounds very much like your family are doing their best to distress you, please try not to give them the satisfaction of falling into the traps they set. I hope you find peace.

The thing I would caution about Howe Vs Howe (and I brought up the case first because I do think it has relevance to the OP's situation) is that firstly the claimant there was awarded much less than she sought and her award was heavily tied up and she could only use it in certain ways. And secondly that she did not find a firm to take it on no win no fee because it was a risky case. Legal costs for her were in the region of £50k.

Now the fact that that claim succeeded puts the OP's in a less risky place but I think purely on what she has put here, it's still quite risky. Many many inheritance act claims are unsuccessful.

As I have said, she should talk through all of the details with a good solicitor and get a fuller assessment of the risks but I worry that she doesn't have the funds to risk in pursuing it.

Hi prh47bridge, has there been any case law concerning cases where the parent‘s behaviour when the child was a minor led to later mental health problems, which have an ongoing impact (ie financial difficulties) on the adult child? I‘m wondering whether that might be a route to explore for a potential claim.

This is one of the most important features of Howe Vs Howe.

The court accepted a casual link between the way the claimant was parented and her current financial position.

It can be very difficult to evidence this but is something to consider

OK, thank you for your advice.

Is it a valid worth while claim tho given ops circumstances,I'd put money on no and op probably coming out of it worse of emotionally ,physically and financially.