Contesting a will

[RossiGas]

Good Evening,

Hoping someone might be able to give me some advise.

Dad passed away just after xmas and his house which I was also living with him is now in the probate application stage.

I am the executor and the beneficiary on the will as my mother passed away.

My father stated the below in the will (names removed by myself) with regards to my father ex wife and his kids from his first marriage..........

"I HAVE made no provision inthis my Will for my former Wife .............. or for my children by my first marriage namely .............and ..............provision having been made for them on the occasion of my divorce in 1979."

Anyway today got a letter from a solicitor saying my step sister who my dad had mentioned in the above part of the will which I have blanked out had told them that I may be sorting out the estate and they wanted to see a copy of the will which I have provided a scanned copy as the original is with the probate application.

Now the question I have is should I be worried with regards to her contesting the will or claiming under the inheritance act 1975??

Dad wrote the will in 1984 and he hasn't seen my step sister for over 15 years as she was caught carrying out credit card fraud as well as stealing money from our grandmother in the early 90's so dad kinda dis-owned her.

Hoping someone might have some idea how this may turn out going forward??

[atticus]

I think that the only people who know what this lady may do are the lady herself and those advising her.

That said, if she has not been maintained/supported by your father her prospects of success in an Inheritance Act claim would appear slim. I would expect her to be given that advice.

You may consider ignoring the solicitors' letter.

[RossiGas]

Thank you for the reply Atticus.

Do you think any laywer would take the case on under a no win no fee basis for her???

I have sent a scanned copy of the will as the original copy was sent a few weeks back for the probate application.

[atticus]

If you take on a case on a "no win, no fee" basis and do not win, you do not get paid for your considerable investment of time and possibly money. If you are going to take that bet, you want to have a good enough chance of winning.

I have taken on this kind of case on conditional fee agreements, but each time after a detailed appraisal of the case. And each time I was able to get a good settlement for my client.

You are going to have to wait and see what happens. But this will not be open-ended. The time limit for bringing an Inheritance Act claim is 6 months from the date of the Grant of Probate.

[RossiGas]

Do you mean you took a case on for a client who was in a situation like my step sister??

The lawyer emailed me back this afternoon saying that she had recieved the scanned copy of my fathers will and "Shall liaise with my client in relation to the contents and revert to you in due course"

Probably a stupid question but if she has advised her that the case is risky with a slim chance of winning and my step sister decides not to proceed do you think that the lawyer would inform me of my sisters decision or just leave it and let me wait until the 6 months is over without any communication??

[atticus]

This kind of speculation will not help. You can only wait to see what happens - if anything.

And yes, I have taken on cases where the chances of success looked good. This is what lawyers do!

[lukewarm]

I think the chance of an Inheritance Act claim are remote.
You do not need to reply to any letters from her solicitor,they are just fishing for any information.

Also,they will try and threaten you but just sit tight and await probate.

Why are you worried about her solicitor's fees ? That is their problem.

Bide your time and just carry on executing the will.

By ignoring their letters you are doing nothing wrong as you are under no obligation to them.

Good luck,any problems just ask.

[PallasAthena]

You probably know that about 14 days after Probate is granted the Will becomes a public document anyway and anyone can download a copy of it from the gov.uk site for a trivial cost (about a £1 last time I did it). And the person downloading it doesn't have to explain who they are or why they want it.

So no harm done by sending the solicitor a scanned copy. Just don't get into any discussion with them about it and don't follow up with them. They will do whatever they do. If they do nothing don't expect them to tell you, you'll just never hear from them again.

If I were in your position and being cautious I might hold back from distributing the Estate until the 6 months Inheritance Act deadline has passed. Just in case of a claim under the Act. Although if you are the sole beneficiary it makes no odds either way I suppose.