contesting a will

[JR424]

Hello All,
my parents were looked after by my sister who rented out her own home and lived with them(This was for 2 yrs) during this time apparently her mortgage company at some point took the view she should turn her loan into a rented mortgage. my parents took an equity release on their property and paid her mortgage off.I was unaware of this at the time but would not have questioned it anyway. later my sister passed away with out a will. We all got on well and I agreed that I would not insist on the money being repaid so her children could inherit her estate without encumbrance. I took over the care of my elderly parents and because of the fact we all got on well we just wrote down that I would inherit the property when they passed. we all thought this was fair. This was a full time job which later resulted in LPA s so they could stay in the family home I only lived 500 yds away so all was good. now they are sadly gone and my sisters children are contesting the will saying it is homemade and they are entitled to half. .The will was witnessed but it is primitive as I stated all it says is that I inherit all and am the only executor. sorry should have added what should be my approach? Am I right to feel somewhat aggrieved?

[ULA]

Hi JR424 and welcome to the forum.

This is not my area of expertise but Peridot would be able to help you, however they are not around until after the weekend. They will be tagged into this thread but you just may have to wait until early next week for a response

if no-one else comes along in the meantime.

[ostell]

What reason are they giving for contesting?

If it was correctly witnessed etc it does not matter one jot if it was home made. You could suggest to those greedy children that if they continue with the action then you will insist that the money that was paid by your parents to release the mortgage on their mothers property will be reclaimed from them.

[des8]

Have you "proved" the will i.e. obtained a grant of probate?

Have the children issued a caveat?

The grounds for contesting a will are:
testamentary capacity;
lack of valid execution;
lack of knowledge and approval;
undue influence;
fraudulent wills and forged wills; and
rectification and construction claims

As ostell being homemade in itself is not a valid ground for contesting!

[JR424]

hello, Thanks for the replies. my father passed about six months ago and nothing was mentioned then Mum passed Five weeks ago and it was after the funeral the eldest approached me about this. I haven't done anything yet but am setting about it this week. I shall be applying for a grant of probate and pushing ahead with everything as it stands. It has become a bit messy. My sister was in a relationship with one of the witnesses on the will, they did have a child and he is the 1 who says his father may have witnessed the will leaving all to me, but he will now say he doesn't believe the will is accurate, he was not asked to read the will at the time and if he had been he would have refused to sign it, he agrees his son should share in the estate with his brothers.(her Sons by another partner) My reaction to that is well then so should my three children so we will share it out equally between all the grandchildren and myself. They disagree and say that they should have half being my sisters share.The will was also witnessed by his present partner. It all sounds a bit odd now as I read it, but it was quite simple really. The split between my sister and her other half was along time ago and we all remained in touch. He has said he feels terrible but has to back his son. I have looked at the above reasons I cannot see any of the above being valid except maybe lack of valid execution? I am not convinced the wife of my sisters Ex who is also a witness would back a claim, although with recent experience, my faith in family values has been fundamentally shaken. They cannot surely claim fraud as the witness was 1 of their fathers. He and my sister were never married by the way it was a relationship that produced a child but did not work out and they both went onto to have other long standing relationships but he lives two hundred yards from me and has been a good father.
I did ask on what grounds they intend to contest the will and they just said they were taking legal advice. would a lawyer back this type of misrepresentation?

[ostell]

They do not have to read the will to witness it. What is being witnessed is purely the signature and confirming who signed it.

Was one of the witnesses also a beneficiary in the will? It's not allowed and hence an invalid will.

[des8]

They do not have to read the will to witness it. What is being witnessed is purely the signature and confirming who signed it.

Was one of the witnesses also a beneficiary in the will? It's not allowed and hence an invalid will.

A slight misapprehension here
The will would not be invalid, but the witness would not be able to receive his legacy since a witness cannot benefit from a will he has witnessed.
Nor can the spouse of a witness inherit, although if a witness later marries a beneficiary they can inherit as it is the situation at the date of the will that matters.

[ostell]

Thanks for the clarification Des. The OP appeared to be mentioning witnesses as beneficiaries.

[JR424]

thanks for this help not sure how they are going to contest but will let you know of any interesting developments.