I'm lost

[baild01]

Evening all,

It's my first post and unfortunately it's a bit of a sad one. I'm at a bit of a loss and really appreciate any help you guys can offer!

Basically my Grandad is in a care home with dementia and Cancer. He's now unfortunately reaching his final few days and my sister and I have come to the realisation that we don't know what his 'position' is. For example, a will, we don't know whether he has any funeral plans in place, we think he took out an equity a while ago and a few other things.

We have been round to his house on the hunt for paper work with the hope we can shed a bit of light on things and so we both know where everythings at and can be prepared for what happens next. Unfortunately though, we've found a copy of a will and it appears as though we have been taken out and a neighbour has been put forward as his Executor...and this is now where i'm out of my depth.

If his neighbour will be the Executor for his estate, does this mean that they now have control over the everything moving forward, including contents of the house such as family photographs and old family films? I appreciate this may all seem as though we are jumping the gun, but in a bid to be prepared, we've just confused ourselves and are now concerned that things of sentimental value from my Gran who died a few years ago will no longer be retrievable (diaries etc).

Unfortunately the neighbour isn't the most approachable and well... with everything going on we don't know what to do!

Many thanks in advance.

[des8]

A sad time for you and your family.

First of all you have found only a copy of a will, but do you know where the original is?
Was it drawn up by a solicitor?
Has it been properly executed?
Were you surprised to see you were not named as executors?
Are you named beneficiaries in the will?

The executor only takes possession of your Grandfather's belongings after he has passed, so you could possibly retrieve those sentimental items now "for safe keeping". Family papers and photographs have little or no monetary value so very doubtful there would be any comeback.

[baild01]

Morning Des8, thanks for your reply. Sorry for the delay in replying, unfortunately my Grandad has now passed away.

We have found an original copy of the will which actually turns out to the different to the one we first found. This puts the Solicitor as the Executor and "leaves everything he owns" to the Great North Air Ambulance, which as far as we can tell, he's never had any dealings with. This version has been signed and has two witnesses (a Clerk and Secretary at the Solicitors).

The above aside though, we're not really surprised i have been taken out of the will.. we had a falling out over my Grans funeral arrangements in 2014 and things were never the same again after that, but my sister has been there for him all the way through. She would go to his house, clean, cook etc. and as he began to deteriorate, she organised cleaners, visited him in hospital and then arranged the care home for him and visited everyday.

For both myself and my sister though, it's not the house or whatever money is left over. It's the bits from my Gran, things she brought over from her family in Germany and as i mentioned in my original post, photographs, a copy of the original blueprints for the bungalow he built in the 60's etc.

[MIKE770]

6 thoughts on “Challenging a Will: What are the grounds for ...

https://www.legalwills.co.uk › blog › challenging-a-will
18 Apr 2019 — Do you think that family members have acted unfairly, or that a step-parent has ... Reasons for challenging a Will that are likely to be unsuccessful ... few years with close to 40 percent of people with a Will leaving unequal amounts to their children. ... Often this results in an entire estate being left to a charity.

might help ? to understand!

[MIKE770]

This type of challenge comes under the Inheritance (Provision for Families and Dependents) Act 1975. But you can definitely contest a charity donation in a will if you think this has happened. It is not wrong to contest a will, just because it is making a charity donation.

[des8]

If you and/ or your sister wish to lodge a claim under the Inheritance (provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 I would suggest to start with a
one off fixed fee consultation with a solicitor specialising in contentious probate.
It could be, especially for your solicitor that the charity will agree a settlement outside of court to avoid the litigation costs.

Regarding the personal sentimental items ask the executor if you can take them as they have no commercial value ... you might be pleasantly surprised, but ask before letting them know you might contest the will!