Stepfather taking Will to court

[Quasar911]

Hello All,

The nasty stepfather is at it again,

executor of will has been granted probate.

Mother in Laws will stats - he gets NO cash, and he can live in the house till he dies, no mortgage and no council tax,

Mother in law got an inheritance end 2018 from her own mother which was around £100,000

She fell very ill herself and passed away August 2020, and there is still the £100,000 left from her own mother,

the horriblestep dad says it should all go to him, the executor of the will is daughter of the deceased and beneficiaries are 2 others, ( siblings )

The stepfather is now dealing with his own solicitor and is demanding 60k, we said no, now he is being nasty and has stated that he is taking it to court so that the fund all get drained and there will not be a penny left, and that we may have to foot his bill.

can he do this maliciously ?

The will was written and signed for when they were married and mother in law was in good mental health,

[des8]

Well yes he can lodge a claim under the Inheritance (provision for family & dependants ) act 1975, but he needs to do it within 6 months of the grant of probate.
Whether the claim will be successful is another matter, and whilst costs are generally paid from the deceased's estate, this is not always the case.

He is using the possible high costs involved with contentious litigation to try and force the other beneficiaries to negotiate a settlement.

I would suggest the three siblings consult a specialist solicitor to discuss their way forward.
Yes, there will be a cost but it could save them much

[Quasar911]

His solicitor has a copy of the will and it states that he can live in the house with no mortgage and no council tax, . he claims benefit and has never worked, mother in law only got the money late 2018 and she hardly enjoyed any of it, so we are trying to keep that money on that side of the family, \so really plenty of provision is being made for him as he can live in a house free with no coucil tax and only pay for food and utilitirs whichis around £200 a month all together, and his income from benefits is around £1000 . he forgets than when everything was amicable(ish) my partner was helping him withhis benefit claims etc so we know exactly what he is getting,

also when mother in law was in hospital he was helping him self to her bank account ( two of them ) and with drawing £250 from each every other day !

He knows he is not going to get a penny so he is trying to force it all to be burned up, surely this should not be allowed

edit you say he us trying to force settlement, actually no we dont think he is, he has been offered £25,000 and said no, explained to him that 100k by 4 is 25k so he is trying force us all to have nothing

[des8]

Was that a Part 36 Offer?

[Quasar911]

no - i have been reading up on this though

[Quasar911]

Hello All, this email has arrived from partners solicitor -i have edited personal information - she is now getting worried and does not exactly know what to do.
Where the text of the other solictitor says they are not happy it took so long for copy of wil to be sent, that was nothing to do with my partner, as her solicitor should be dealing with it all - when it comes to her own solicitor saying : Please can you provide us with a list of the estate assets and liabilities by return. what does he have to do, they have the will and value of house being left to her and siblings and the value if inheritance :



I have received an email from the solicitors acting on behalf of your step-father set out below:


-----------------------------
We thank you for your letter of 6 January enclosing copy Will and Grant of Probate in respect of the above.



We are aware that your client is a beneficiary but she is also executor. Accordingly, it is incumbent upon her to seek to keep costs proportionate and to avoid litigation where possible. She must also seek to co-operate and it is disappointing that it took so long for a copy of the will to reach us.

Please can you provide us with a list of the estate assets and liabilities by return.

We look forward to hearing from you.



I have sought advice from xxxx who advises as follows:



As an executor xxxxxxx should provide the basic estate information to anyone who is considering bringing a claim. She must remain neutral and allow the potential claimant to consider the position in relation to the estate and take advice about their position. Therefore, I would advise that at least an initial schedule of the assets and liabilities of the estate be provided as soon as possible. Any legal costs incurred by her in dealing with their requests (so long as she remains neutral) can be paid from the estate. She cannot be forced to do this until a claim proceeds (and at that stage she will need to produce a standard witness statement providing all the estate information) but could be criticised and possibly penalised with costs if she does not provide the information at the earliest opportunity to try to avoid a court action.



Her position as beneficiary is different but she does not need to be too concerned about that position unless or until a claim proceeds. I do not think I need to be further involved at this stage (unless she wants any further advice) but once a formal letter of claim is received she will need to put on her beneficiary hat and deal with the claim and, at that stage, I would suggest I speak to her again to obtain her instructions and, if appropriate, open a file for her and assist her with the claim. It is fine for this firm to act for her as executor and as beneficiary so long as the two roles are kept completely separate and, if a claim proceeds, as executor she needs to 'sit back' and let the beneficiaries argue the claim. As executor, she will be obliged to deal with the estate in whatever way is agreed, or ordered, in the course of the claim.



Perhaps you could let me have your instructions on the above two points. I am sure you will appreciate that the additional work involved with dealing with the above two matters will not be covered by our original estimate of fees and I will have to charge the estate for the extra work involved. My hourly rate is £230 plus VAT and I will need to charge for the time taken.

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Her own solicitor has the will and all the information of the estate already.

[Amethyst]

How is the council tax to be paid ? ie. is that to come out of the cash savings ?

[des8]

I guess the comment "no council tax" is because occupant is in receipt of benefits.

I would suggest your OH gives consideration to instructing her solicitor to deal with this matter, both as executor and beneficiary.
Yes, there will be a monetary cost, but a lot of the stress will be alleviated.
Already it seems the other side are trying the standard bullying tactics (requesting information they already have and implying she has been non cooperative) often used on lay persons by unscrupulous professionals and already it has begun to worry her.

Her solicitor's email sets out the position succinctly, so at least discuss with him the way forward and likely cost to the estate.

[Quasar911]

yes i thought they were trying bullying tactics - as i cannot see the 2 people paying for stepfather monthy bill wanting this to to go court on the very high risk of losing, and then coughing up. the solictor he users is not a very good one local one man band, and the one we use is a town known one