inheritance

[Nelly5757]

My mother and father purchased a house in 196?, mother died at 32 leaving 5 children. We went to live with Aunt who lived on same road and father remained in house. Father remarried in 197? She moved into our family home that my father owned outright. They did not have any children together. We was always told that “the house” was ours when my father died and in his will he devises and bequeaths “My freehold property” to his children with effects also and states that stepmother can live there till she dies as long as she pays bills council tax etc. And then he leaves all monies to wife. Stepmother passed away last year and it’s now going through probate and we have learned that stepmothers name was added to title registry in 1995 with Restriction A. Now my fathers will was done in 2009 and I can’t understand why his will says MY not my share If stepmother is down as owner also? So the niece of stepmother is inheriting dads money along with her aunts plus she is claiming 50% of house which is not what my father wanted it was our family home his wife moved in she didn’t contribute to paying for house. How can me and my siblings go about contesting the will as when my father was doing his will surely the solicitor would have told him he can’t leave house to children if he is a tenant in common? Solicitor has disappeared can not find him and have gone through all legal steps to find him. Have me and my siblings got grounds to contest because this niece is being greedy and stepmother always knew it was our house.

[Amethyst]

Was there a deed of trust stating the shares of the property owned by each of your dad and stepmother ? The starting point is 50/50. The land reg may have a copy of the deed of trust.

Did your stepmother have a will ?

[Nelly5757]

We are thinking that maybe there was a deed of trust because the will my father made does not make sense and yes stepmother has a will and he would not have relied on her will regarding the house but she did change her will 11 months after he died. It doesn’t say anything about the house but probate are including in her estate obviously I we are thinking of contesting will as they owned a house in Ireland that my stepmother sold so the niece is going to inherit the money from that also And as I said by the wording in my fathers will he honestly wouldn’t expect her niece to have a slice of the house hence why I believe there must be some sort of paperwork somewhere stating the house was my mothers also

[Peridot]

Hi Nelly5757,
sorry for your loss, it must be hard. Wills generally will say I leave all my interest in my property xxxx This doesn’t state what share of a property. A standard form A restriction indicates they hold the property as tenants in common, which in the absence of a declaration of trust would be presumed to be a 50/50 split.
Any will can be changed at any time unless it is a mutual will (which are unusual and not generally recommended). I appreciate your upset but your step mother would have been entitled to contest the will if your father had not provided sufficiently for her and after such a long marriage she would most likely have been successful in a claim.
Did her previous will leave her share of the property to you and your siblings? I’m afraid even if it did there is nothing that prevents her changing her will provided she had capacity to do so.
I would suggest getting a free half hour or reduced fee appointment with a solicitor specialising in contested probate matters to assess your likely outcomes and provide options.