late fathers estate, step brother involved

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

So you still have hope.

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

received a letter from another probate office today requesting i return the LOA. it states my step brother has come forward as executor. if i dont return them it says they will just cancel them.
i phoned them and it seems they wont need witness statements from the witnesses to the will. they dont investigate wills. apparently the only thing i can do is lodge a caviet.
is now a good time to look for a no win no fee legal firm?

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

You need to lodge the caveat before probate is granted, so you need to get a move on!
Typically, a Caveat is issued for the following :-
when there are concerns relating to the validity of the will
there is a dispute between the parties or Executor of the will
concerns about the testator when the will was Executed eg. the person may have not have the capacity
when there are issues as to fraud
Reasons for contesting a will:
lack of “testamentary capacity”;
lack of valid execution;
lack of knowledge and approval;
undue influence;
fraudulent wills and forged wills; and
rectification and construction claims.

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

caveat lodged hopefully. now off to find a no win no fee outfit that might take this on. fingers crossed.

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

have been sent a copy of my the will my step brother has loged. interestingly this one has a front page with the date on. but its a year different. could this be used to discredit the will?

also a solicitor im in conversation with re fighting this. said they could probably get the solicitors records on the will for a fixed fee of £1500. well why cant i demand the solicitor involved release the records regarding the will using my Letters of Admin?

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

Contentious litigation is expensive, as you are beginning to find out!
Your LoA gives you authority to handle your late father's estate, not force third parties to hand over their records!

" but its a year different"
this will only be of importance if you have a later original (not a copy) will which will supercede the will lodged by your sb

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

so the probate office wont think its odd hes sent a will with a different front page date to the date on the signature page?

so how do I go about getting copies of the solicitors records? there must be a away without involving a third party and costs.

also the solicitor dealing with the initial enquiry has asked if I have legal expenses cover on an insurance policy. I do on my house policy, though when I called them the call centre staff essentially said it would not cover this. I wonder if I drop the current solicitor who has done no work yet, whether or not I could use the DAS insurance to sort things out, as I can argue it affects my assets not just a personal matter between me and my SB.

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

As long as the date of signature is subsequent to other dates there is no problem.
If the signature is prior to other dates, that is suspicious!

Regarding your legal Expenses insurance, please note if you are intent on disputing this will you need specialist contentious litigators.
The solicitor appointed by DAS is most unlikely to be such, although they may allow you to appoint your own.
From the time legal proceedings start you can appoint your own solicitor (regulation 6 of the Insurance Companies (Legal Expenses Insurance) Regulations 1990 [SI 1159])
Without seeing the exact wording of the cover it is impossible to give an opinion on the call centre staff decsision.

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

to give an example:

front sheet, I guess, says dated 20th March 2010.
signature sheet says dated 20th March 2011.

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

this is the insurance:

http://www.halifax.co.uk/insurance/h...egal-expenses/

this is the policy booklet:

http://static.halifax.co.uk/assets/p...pbc_latest.pdf

I cant find anything specific that says they wont cover this.

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

The date discrepancy appears to be a typo, and in any case the will appears to have been signed on the latter date.
I see no mileage in that.

Re the Legal Expenses cover, (whilst without policy inception date and first three letters of policy number I cannot access the exact policy wording)
your difficulty is not that contentious litigation is excluded, but that it is not included under "Insured Incidents"

Other possible problems are around the length of time this matter has been rumbling on (you need to make a claim in a timely fashion), and their assessment of whether or not their are reasonable prospects of success.

Did DAS give a reason for declining your claim?

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

I think essentially they classed it as a personal family matter. I did ask there advice back when I was sorting the LOA, so they will have that on record.

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

If you are making a claim under any policy of insurance it is for you , the claimant, to prove the claim is covered by the policy.
So you need to identify which section of the policy covers the circumstances for which you are claiming.

I must admit I did not anticipate your policy would cover you here, and having looked at DAS' basic policy wording I very much doubt they will entertain your claim. Your wording might differ, but I doubt it.

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

ok the solicitor thinks we have a claim under the inheritance act. she thinks at this stage its worth sending a letter to see if he will negotiate.
the fees for no win no fee seem to be about 20% of what they secure. she also said they try and claim the costs from the other party.
the only thing that i would have to pay is disburments.
is this worth going for or should i try another route/solicitor. ive only asked one so far, just wondered if it was like quotes for any other job, you can shop around.

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

You can always look around as it costs nothing and may give you a broader perspective.

I must admit I'm slightly surprised she thinks you might have a claim under the Inheritance Act
From earlier posts I had the impression that you were estranged from your father.
To be able to claim "reasonable financial provision" you will have to show that you had a reasonable expectation of having your living costs met by your father.
As you seem to have been financially independent of your father prior to his death it might be difficult to show such an expectation.
Of course I may have misinterpreted your situation.

Regarding a negotiated settlement, how realistic is this viewing his ignoring of previous attempts at communication?