Contesting my nans will

[Guest]

Hi,

I could really do with some advice. My grandad died in June 2006, both his and my nans will was changes in 2005 by my auntie taking them to the solicitors. My nan suffering with either early onset dementia. I never asked for exact diagnosis from hospital as you could barely spend 30 seconds in her company without knowing there was something up me mentally. My grandad had Parkinsons disease and was also suffering with that quite badly.

When my Grandad died my auntie moved my nan in with her and sold my grandparents house within 4 weeks as the date sale is Jul 2006.

My Auntie took power of attorney of my nan then placed her in a care home not allowing my brother, uncle or myself to ever see her again. Despite me driving the 100 mile trip to beg her to let her see me.

I found out through a solicitor in late November that my nan died back in May 2020 and i was not told or allowed to go to the funeral and neither my uncle or brother.

The Probate and will comes through and its a trust will with my auntie and her husband executors and there's lots of legal jargon in it from what i can tell about property and capital that does not have to be disclosed to beneficiaries.

They was worth in excess of £300,000 probably alot more and the probate says estate worth £23,000.

Ontop of this it emerges that my auntie was asking my grandad to borrow £40,000 just before he died for an extension and he said no. The builders weer round starting her extension before he was even buried.

I drove 100 miles yesterday to find my grandparents in an over grown grave wit a plaque that was tiny and laying face down on the floor.

Can someone please advise me what to do because this is heart breaking

[ostell]

Get a copy of the will. Search probate records for documents and wills (England and Wales) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

[Andyduffy]

Just in response to your post i have a copy of the will. The will was changed in 2005 from the previous will my grandparents had no medical evidence or screening prior to the will change shows to have taken place.
The dates look very odd on this also. My grandad died in jul 2006 house sale Aug 2006 within a month. Sold again in Feb 2008 18 months later.
Same time my auntie extension was being put up in Jul 2006 after my uncle witnessing her asking my grandad for 40k for an extension shortly before he died and he said no.
The will ties everything to them and has differnt acts of law.
However if I can get family members that see my nan that are not beneficiaries to give statements and people that had contact and spent any length of time with my nan along with medical records and I think but don't know my grandads will as he was in his later stages of parkinsons and definitely would have also needed something to show he was in sound mind.
Thanks for any help you can give me on this matter.

I tried to send the will over on files but there are too many pages. Its a discretionary trust will, naming my auntie and her husband as trustees.

where the Society of trusts and estate practitioners (first edition) shall apply

Also

Section 11 of the trust of land and the appointment of trustees act 1996 (consultation with beneficiaries) shall not apply.

There's also other parts about any gift in ger lifetime is not subject to inheritance tax or additional inheritance tax.

There a reason I was nit allowed to see my nan for 15 years and a reason I didn't find out u tol nearly 6 months after she died but I can not work it out or really uderstand how this has happened at all in terms of the new will standing up as niether was in sound mind at this time of life

[des8]

If you wish to challenge the validity of the wills on the grounds that the testators lacked capacity when they were executed:

i)From your description of the wills it seems they were drafted by a professional, probably a solicitor.
The solicitor should have retained his notes of the consultation which will indicate if he had any doubts about the testator's capacity.

ii)If the wills were correctly executed and appear rational the burden of proof of incapacity on the part of the testators will fall on you as the objector.

iii)You will have difficulties obtaining medical records as you are not executor. You will probably require a court order.

iv)People with dementia (and certainly Parkinsons) do not necessarily lack capacity, and certainly not all the time. They can have periods during which they are capable of making decisions

You will almost certainly need professional advice from a solicitor specialising in contentious litigation if you wish to proceed down this path.
Be warned it does not come cheap, and IMO you should seek an initial consultation at a set fee to discuss your options.