Executor being asked to change will

[user1471461828]

Username changed because I would hate to be identified asking this.

I am executor of an estate, there are four beneficiaries of which I am one. I benefit more than the other three, their deceased stepparent is my parent. Our shared parent died some years ago. Shared parents half of the total estate is split between the four of us, with the remaining half to me solely.

One has spoken to me saying that they expected more from the will (I gave them an indication of what to expect) and they would like to be treated fairly, and I believe want the estate split equally four ways. I shut this down at the time because the loss is still very raw but also I think this is illegal as not what is stated in the will.

I’m going to instruct solicitors, but I wonder if there’s any way they could challenge this?

Tell them you are going to follow the wishes of the deceased.
To be honest, seems very fair to me ... though might be fairer if they have a third each of their parent's rather than a quarter.

Poor advice atm, so long as the Will is valid, you can apply for Probate, i assume you re sole executor but even that doesn't matter.

Over turning a Will is extremely difficult, "Fairness" is not a ground to do so, even if the testator was suffering from dementia, they need to prove on the day the will was written, he was not of sound mind, undue influence? the main witness is dead....

They would also need to find a Solicitor who would take the case on, without evidence, thats difficult.

Wait until they actually do something to challenge the Will before you instruct a Solicitor and even then, chose one who has real experience in High Court action.

What needs to be remembered is that even if a deed of variation was used, the relationship is soured, the step children now know they were the least favoured... that cannot change.

Feel for you, i went through all of this, no NC with my former "family"

I’m interested to know how the finances were when the OPs parents got together.
My DS died and her DP financially, benefitted significantly as a result leaving him with a mortgage free house. He went on to have another family. When he died his wife got everything including what had been my nephews family home. Apparently her will leaves her estate to be shared between all 4 children (3 half siblings) equally even though she brought no money to the marriage and has never worked since having now adult children.

I have 3 siblings, one is a half sibling.

I expect the will to be distributed the same with her receiving half the estate plus a quarter of the other have being shared amongst 4.

I believe this to be fair.

I would not dispute this and expect a 1/4 of everything.

So no, it’s your parent and you have inherited. Don’t change that.

I suggested handing it over to a solicitor to deal with for one reason only, and that is to prevent the beneficiary from pestering the executor to make changes to the will.

When my grandmother died my uncle suggested dividing my late mothers share between all my grandmothers grandchildren rather than just my sisters and me, as per the will.
My sister wrote a letter, firmly saying no. She pointed out that most of my grandmothers savings ( half her estate) were the result of my father passing on my mothers pension to my grandmother “ to make her life more comfortable”. He had done this with our blessing. I think she even suggested that we may make a claim in the estate to reclaim it ( not sure if it was possible but since all this was supposed to be via mutual agreement they could have done it as a deed of variation if necessary). Anyway they quickly stuck to the letter of the will since my sisters suggestion would have reduced their payout considerably.
My other sister was a little more emotional in her reply. She asked if the tables were turned and it was my late mum who was executing the will, would she have asked their children to do the same, and more to the point, would they have agreed.
I think you have to write to all your half siblings and ask if they were in the same position would they be happy to do the same. If you have access to your parents longterm accounts maybe include a spread sheet of assets they brought to the marriage to reinforce the situation. You may find that percentage wise you are technically owed more of the inheritance. Sometimes you have to be clinical in these situations. Obviously if the figures don’t favour you then forget them. Just stick to the will. As others have said, as long as there are no reasons to doubt its validity then they have no recourse. It’s not like they have been written out of it.
Another possibility is to make some payments to grandchildren out of your share. They can’t argue with this and it doesn’t benefit them directly.

I think the point is to actually ask them OP, so that they understand why it wouldn't actually be fair at all.

Just tell them you are legally obliged to carry out the instructions in the will, since that is the case. It is nothing to do with fairness, it is what is written in the will that counts.

@DreamingOfASilentNight your "try again" post makes barely any more sense than your first one. I think you mean well but your time is probably better spent having a nap.

Then tell them they're bloody lucky to be getting anything at all from your parent's estate, and that you will be distributing the estate in accordance with the terms of the will.

Just follow the wishes of the will and be done with it

It doesn't matter who thinks what

In your role as executor, follow the instructions of the will to the letter.

You have no need to consult the other beneficiaries as to what they would do in hypothetical situations, neither do you have to justify your decisions, because you are simply carrying out the wishes of the deceased.

Don’t be bullied. Honour how your parent wanted their assets split.

Did the shared parent leave everything to your parent and then your parent divided it up in that way: half to all 4, half to you?

Could it be that the shared parent, who died first , did think that everything would go 4 ways, and at some stage told them that?

Hence the surprise and dismay?

Did your parent bring their half into the marriage? Or was the majority of what they had assets that they built up jointly? Over a marriage of many years from when you were all young?

Step parents who are the second to die quite often leave their step offspring out of a will. I have seen this happen to several friends.

The bottom line is that your duty as executor is to distribute the estate as directed in the will.

If it does feel actually unjust (according to answers to some of my questions) , you could, if you wanted, divert some of your share to them via a Deed of Variation.

You don’t need a solicitor for a DoV, there are templates online, instructions as to who needs to sign and witness.

Even if it "feels unjust", she has no obligation to change the will.

I have the opposite (sort of) scenario in that mhy parent died four years ago, I have a half sister, our shared parent died 18m ago, I am executor.

Our shared parent (DM) left everything equally split between each "family unit". As I have no family, I got a third (well, will get, still dealing with it all), my brother and his family get their third split between them and my sister the same.

DMs money mainly came from pension my dad earned, plus an inheritance from my dad's family.

Is it unjust that I have to share my dad's money with my half sister? She has a father she will inherit from, I won't get any of that. Should I ask her (and her offspring) to relinquish their share back to me and my brother so we can give them a third of a half instead?

Obviously not.

Obviously she has no obligation.

She has a choice should she choose to take it.

Based on the circumstances and her view of those circumstances.

In your shoes I would view it as not ideal that your Dads money ended up with people he is not related to and if I was your Mum I may well have written my will differently.

People do different things, make different decisions, have different feelings.

The OP has no obligation to vary the will.

It was her parent’s money , her parent wanted her to have it.

If she wants to maintain a good relationship with her half siblings it might be worth thinking about why they thought they might get a bigger share and how they feel about it.

Why? It's the joint parent of all four of them including OP. Are you suggesting OP should be excluded from inheriting from one of her parents in favour of her half-sibs? Why? Honestly it sounds like the original will is scrupulously fair to all parties.

You might be the executor but technically theyre asking you as a beneficiary to agree to a deed of variation. You're not obliged to agree rhis. However these are your half siblings. Obviously you haven't shared the circumstances of how you came to have a shared parent. Could be e.g. their other parent died when they were small having built up. No significant estate, surviving parent met your parent and they went on to have you in which case it would feel against natural justice to me that you got such a disproportionate share. You know best the circumstances and what relationship you want going forward so I think you have to judge what's right here but accept if you don't vary the will you may be irrevocably damaging your sibling relationships.

@user1471461828 why the hell do they even think they entitled to an inheritance from someone who was not a blood relative?? what a load of chancers! technically, your own parent may even have had the right to change his will and they might not have received a bean! according to the will they are entitled to 1/8each and you are entitled to 5/8.

Yes, ok i was a bit blunt, sorry, but it will be at great cost and with zero guarantee that they'll leave the OP alone...

The costs i incurred at the stage it looked like it may go towards court/mediation were £160 per hour and this was almost 9 years ago... she even told me to keep costs down, do everything by email... when i did ring her, even saying Hello was costing me!!

I ended up paying around £2k long before we even got to hiring a barrister, had it gone to court, back then was a min cost of around 200k... per party!! so the losing side could be faced with 400k in costs!

At the stage the op is at, she can deal with it all herself, as it will almost certainly go no where.

Aside, I went through this, at one point i was a hares breath from handing the lot over to the claimants.... any relationship is dead, they know they weren't to be treated equally by their step parent - you cannot go back from that.