Contesting Will of Late Father

[Nosher]

In brief, I along with three other siblings are in the process of contesting my late father's Will which was left to another sibling who at 48 years of age has never been employed and has been solely dependant upon my late mother and father all her life.

My father, unfortunately, passed away from complications relating to an industrial disease in which the last 4 months of his life were spent in a hospital bed. During that time it was discovered that the live at home sibling had been raping my father's bank account for her own selfish needs for the past six years after he was awarded a considerable compensation payment for his industrial Disease.

At present she still resides in my father's home and is using his life insurance payout to sustain her living as she has no income.

The reason for my post is can the sibling who is the sole beneficiary of my father's will, use the funds held by the Will executor and trustee (solicitors) to fund her defence against us who are contesting the Will?

Your help would be most appreciated.

[Peridot]

Hi,
How sad for you all. Your sibling can’t use the estate monies to fund her defence, however in the event she was successful and your claim failed then a costs order could be made against those bringing the claim. Depending on the facts of the case the Court does have discretion to make costs orders.
if your sibling was being supported financially by your grandparents then she may well have a claim under the Inheritance Act. I would suggest you seek some face to face legal advice on this before making a claim, if that is your intention. Contested probate claims can be stressful and costly. It is always recommended that negotiating a settlement is by far the more sensible route.
see if you can get a reduced fee or free initial appointment with a contested probate specialist.

[Nosher]

Thank you PERIDOT for your comments.

We as siblings are still coming to terms with the loss of our father, but the issue of most concern is that 'She' robbed my fathers bank accounts for six years as if it fine to do so. She has the typical traits of a nasty narcissist who wanted the good life and the trappings of success but was never prepared to work for it.

My father had 5 children of which we provided him with 7 grandchildren and 6 great children.....NONE of which he was allowed to visit or see due to 'Her' control she had over my father. All of my father's children with the exception of the one who lived at his home had been estranged from him for 8 years because she would not allow visiting rights in HIS house!.....We were not even allowed to visit him during his last 24 hours before passing away.

Whilst my father was struggling for his life in hospital 'She' was spending in excess of £1,000 a month in posh stores such as Selfridges, John Lewis and House of Fraser to name a few. 'She' was even having cosmetic lip fillers at £200.00 a time!....not bad going for someone who has never done a days work in her life.

I am also aware that my Father was instructed by 'Her' to make a Will so that 'She' would be the sole beneficiary. She attended the signing of the Will but it was not discussed or neither did anyone else know about the Will until my father passed away as he never discussed it with anyone else but 'Her'.

As previously mentioned 'She' has taken my father's life insurance and is using it to maintain her living standard, that is until she is awarded probate.

A sad ,sad state of affairs which I am embarrassed to be part of.

[Nosher]

Following on from my previous post.

It has now been determined by our solicitors that we have a very good undue influence case to be presented against my sister (the sole beneficiary).

However, our solicitor has confirmed that although our case is very strong, even if we are successful, my sister will still be awarded a lifetime interest on my fathers property. In this instance we will be left with extensive legal costs which we will not be able to recover as my late father's property it appears will not be instructed to be sold by the judge to recover costs or a distributed share of my late father's estate due to the rules of the Inheritence Act.

Is this possible? Surely if my sister is found to have exerted undue influence on my father (which is undeniable), then his Will should be deemed void?

Through the request of a Larke v Negus request it was determined that my sister made all the appointments and arrangments for my fathers Will and even attended the meetings before the signing. She has also pillaged his bank accounts for the past 5 years of £25,000.

Any advice regarding the Inheritance Act is greatly appreciated.

[JJW]

Can you let us know the outcome?