Help with Caveat on Mums probate

[Garallf]

Hi there, my mother sadly passed away last month, she had been diagnosed with secondary cancer in Dec and had her Op end of Jan and sadly passed.

She had separated from her husband (my Father) over 12 months ago and split their joint estates 50/50 and she walked away but tbey had a will together, but after her cancer diagnosis in December she decided she wanted to amend her will to not include her husband. The will was done all above board and through a solicitor and revoking all previous wills...

I was named as executor on the will and when I finally managed to pluck up the courage to collect the will I found out she had split her assets between her two children - myself and sister. Now my mother and sister have always had a rocky relationship and for months hadn't spoken but now in the will my mother has split her estate 85/15 (biggest share to me.. I'm guessing because she lived with me for most of that time during her illnesses and was her carer) Nothing I was involved in at all and made a point of staying out of it all knowing how underhanded/sneaky my father was but now my estranged Father has put in a caveat disputing the will and my sister is complaining about the share she's been left isn't fair..

Anyone else been through similar and can give any advice..?? It's getting beyond now with the level of harassment/bullying we're having.. Any help would be greatly appreciated..

[Pezza54]

Hi
I'm very sorry to read about the sad passing of your mother last month. It must be upsetting having to deal with squabbling family members so soon after her passing. Answers to a few questions would be helpful
How did your father and sister find out about your mother's new will and the contents of the will? They are not named executors
Did you apply for Probate or employ a solicitor?

The caveat can halt probate for 6 months unless your father withdraws it, which seems unlikely if he is aware he is not a beneficiary in her will. He can renew the caveat after 6 months

You will need to obtain advice from a contentious probate solicitor about challenging the caveat. If your father makes an Appearance the court is involved to settle the dispute. Legal costs mount up. As executor you can use estate funds to pay your legal costs

[Garallf]

Thank you PEZZA54 it has been hard to be honest, never did I expect to be in this position..
As executor I sorted out the death certificate etc and informed all the relevant people DWP, banks etc.

I collected the will just after her funeral and found that there were two beneficiaries Myself and Sister, I informed her and in turn she informed our father... To add another twist to this, the 15% share in my mums will that is supposed to be my sisters consisted of the total contents of my mums current account - which turns out is a joint account created by my father for her years ago and she just used that for years as her account. Now she's died the money has been transferred to my Father who is keeping the money as his own and demanding I give my sister 50% of my share in the will..

I applied for Probate about a 3 weeks ago and had the email yesterday to say the application has stopped due to a Caveat been lodged.

Its all fast becoming a nightmare.. I spoke to CAB today and they were great to be honest and gave me some good information so now I'm booked in with a solicitor Monday to deal with the theft of the money firstly and then we'll deal with the Caveat.

Its just the harassing/demanding emails that have shaken us a bit and did not expect to be treated this way, now I see that money is the route of all evil .

[Pezza54]

Yes money is the route of all evil, and evil grows from money too!
CAB are usually very helpful and offer good advice. I'm not sure the solicitor will agree that your father has stolen the money in the joint account. The money in the account legally passed to your father when your mother died.
I suspect your meeting with the solicitor will concentrate more on the caveat. It does seem unfair that your sister is losing out on the joint account.
It would be good if you can update forum readers after the meeting

[atticus]

Sorry, but money is the ROOT of all evil!

[Huxie]

Sorry, but money is the ROOT of all evil!

Almost….

”For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” [1 Timothy 6:10]

[Garallf]

I have an appointment tomorrow with a local solicitor (the same practice that did my mother's will) to discuss options..

Spent the last couple of days trawling through old documents/emails and have 3 or 4 mentions of the 'joint account' being mentioned by my father as 'Mams Account' and the money in it was included and a part of their 50/50 estate split when they separated, also bank statements from that account that shows only Mam using it for many years...

Not a single transaction in/out from my father from that account.

[Garallf]

Just an update, we had the telephone appointment yesterday and it was discussed and now been referred to another solicitor in the practice who deals with more than just probate.. Thanks again all for the comments/help. Any other help/suggestions are appreciated.