Contesting will

[Crazylady123]

Hi my father in law passed away recently, my husband was told that in the will he would be left half the house and any money when his dad passed away. The house was owned between his dad and step mum. His dad developed dementia a few years ago and the house was sold 6 months prior to his death. All the proceeds of the sale went into a joing bank account with his wife. The funeral was paid for from his sole bank account which is now empty. Do we have any claim on the money in the joint bank account. My father in law would not have wanted my husband to be left with nothing.

[Peridot]

Hi Crazylady123.
I'm sorry to hear of your husband's issue. It will very much depend on the wording of the Will. Has he seen a copy of the Will? I'm afraid if there is no provision for any replacement property to be purchased from the original property (if that was what was left to him under the Will) then there may be little recourse for him but the specific wording of the Will dictates what would happen.
If you can post the relevant clause concerning the property or the Will itself here with all identifying details removed we can take a look and point you in the right direction hopefully.

[Crazylady123]

We dont have a copy of the will yet. My concern is my mother in law had LPAO for my father in law she was the joint owner of the house. He would not have had any idea to what was going on financially. If she hadnt have sold the house then my husband would have had half. It just feels wrong. Thanks for your advice

[Peridot]

Hi again,
Really hard situation. Do you know why the property was sold eg downsize, care funding? The wording of the Will is key I'm afraid.
If a copy isn't forthcoming then you can obtain a copy from the Probate Registry once Probate as been granted here:- https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inh...robate-records
You can also set up a standing search that will alert you once probate has been granted. It doesn't prevent a grant being issued but provides notice. Any claim against the estate has to be made within 6mths of the Grant being issued. I suspect that depending on the wording in the Will this will dictate whether there is anything that can be done I'm afraid.
If there is anything untoward that has gone on under the LPA then it would be the Office of the Public Guardian that would need to be involved whose details can be found here:- https://www.gov.uk/report-concern-about-attorney-deputy
Once you have a copy of the Will things may become clearer.