Will Dispute

[mrsmith]

Hi everyone new here
My late mother in law passed away a couple of months ago leaving a simple will naming both children as executors she left all cash and real estate (the family home) to be divided equally between them

This where the dispute starts my brother in law acted a guarantor for the mortgage on the property and paid the mortgage from his bank account and his parents paid him half the mortgage for a number of years and also paid for all home improvements etc over the years. He paid the other half of the mortgage then paid off a lump sum a number of years ago so he thought the property was his and his parents drafted a will 18 years ago leaving the house to him only to change their mind but unfortunately my father in law passed away before he could change his will but 4 weeks after he died my mother in law went and made the will which is in dispute this was 10 years ago we took her to the appointment but had no input he is now saying his father left the house to him in his will but as we understood it he left everything to his wife he is also saying we made her change the will.

The house is ex council property which my in laws got the maximum discount of around 60% and when she passed away they had lived in it over 60 years after adding up all the payments made by my in laws for half the mortgage and all home improvements they paid roughly as much as him. He could not buy the property as he was not a council tenant but is still insisting it is his the deeds are in his parents names .my wife looked after her parents for 25 years plus and they though she deserved their half of the property as my brother in law never did a lot to help them out.

We are surmising he is going to challenge the will on the grounds of undue influence although over the years he kept asking her to sign it over to his children and all she would say to him was it sorted out so she was not easily swayed even when in the later stages of her life and quite ill. He has already accepted cash from the estate as the banks did not require probate.

The questions we want to ask are can he challenge the part of the will he disagrees with or does he have to challenge the overall will and how hard is it to try and prove undue influence any help would be most welcome
Thanks

[jaguarsuk]

If I were him I wouldn't think I owned the whole house as I paid half. I might try to say that the half owned by mum should be split 50/50 not the whole house meaning I owned 75% of it, but to claim overall ownership is pushing it for me.

Legally though he owns 0% as the owners are the ones whose name is on the deeds. You say you took your late mother in law to an appointment, so the person whom conducted that appointment will be able to provide a Witness Statement as to whom was in the room and whether you had any input. I think with that backing he'll have an uphill battle to prove undue influence.

If it were me I'd advise him that you had no influence on the will, you took your late mother in law to an appointment she had made or asked you to make, she went in and you remained outside. Challenging that will is going to be a costly affair, you will rely on the person whom conducted the appointment to confirm as much and that he paid for half a house, so he's got half a house which at current market value I assume he's making a substantial return on investment given it was a right to buy purchase with full discount. If he wants it all, he needs to buy at current market value your wife's half if she wants to sell.

His father made a will that passed the property to his mother and had he survived her it may well have been his intention to pass it solely to him, however he didn't and his wishes were enacted. His mother's intentions were different to that of his father and that's the end of it.

[mrsmith]

If I were him I wouldn't think I owned the whole house as I paid half. I might try to say that the half owned by mum should be split 50/50 not the whole house meaning I owned 75% of it, but to claim overall ownership is pushing it for me.

Legally though he owns 0% as the owners are the ones whose name is on the deeds. You say you took your late mother in law to an appointment, so the person whom conducted that appointment will be able to provide a Witness Statement as to whom was in the room and whether you had any input. I think with that backing he'll have an uphill battle to prove undue influence.

If it were me I'd advise him that you had no influence on the will, you took your late mother in law to an appointment she had made or asked you to make, she went in and you remained outside. Challenging that will is going to be a costly affair, you will rely on the person whom conducted the appointment to confirm as much and that he paid for half a house, so he's got half a house which at current market value I assume he's making a substantial return on investment given it was a right to buy purchase with full discount. If he wants it all, he needs to buy at current market value your wife's half if she wants to sell.

His father made a will that passed the property to his mother and had he survived her it may well have been his intention to pass it solely to him, however he didn't and his wishes were enacted. His mother's intentions were different to that of his father and that's the end of it.

thanks a lot jaguarsuk much appreciated the response hopefully the solicitor he has seen will see it that way as its having an effect on my wife as she is still grieving and all this is doing is making it harder as its disrespecting her mums wishes