Late Fathers DIY Will

[Little Heart]

Hi Everyone.

 

My father had been will his partner for over 20 yrs.Both of them made a DIY will within 1 month of my father find out her had terminal cancer....which in itself I feel strange about as he was very keen on having things in writing.

 

My father has 3 children,partner 4 children.the wills are the same just the other way round(if you know what i mean)which again is strange because like i say he'd just found out his cancer was not treatable.

 

Basically the one that died first left all their money & share in their house to the partner.Once the patner died all monies+sale of property would be split 7 ways.

 

Now i'm under the understanding that the partner could re write their will and not include myself/siblings.Would we be able to contest if this happened?

 

We all have a photocopy of there wills.

 

Thanks for your help in advance.

[Guest Old_andrew2018]

Can I suggest that you seek legal advice, it is important as there are issues about your right to part of your fathers estate.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[Little Heart]

Hi Andy,

 

I wanted to do that but my siblings don't want to incase the word gets out and we get wrote out because we checked on wether the wills where enforceable.

 

I'll do it myself.

 

thanks

[JonCris]

Hi Everyone.

 

My father had been will his partner for over 20 yrs.Both of them made a DIY will within 1 month of my father find out her had terminal cancer....which in itself I feel strange about as he was very keen on having things in writing.

 

My father has 3 children,partner 4 children.the wills are the same just the other way round(if you know what i mean)which again is strange because like i say he'd just found out his cancer was not treatable.

 

Basically the one that died first left all their money & share in their house to the partner.Once the patner died all monies+sale of property would be split 7 ways.

 

Now i'm under the understanding that the partner could re write their will and not include myself/siblings.Would we be able to contest if this happened?

 

We all have a photocopy of there wills.

 

Thanks for your help in advance.

 

I'm not clear what you mean by "he liked everything writing" cos a Will is in writing:confused:

 

On the basis of your post the answer to your question is NO a Will can be revoked/rewritten at any time through the life of the testator in this case your fathers former partner.

 

However if they specifically agreed with each other that they will NOT change their Wills then it is possible they have created what is known as 'mutual' Wills so that even if the partner later makes a different Will she would be obliged to dispose in accordance with the original Will

 

Where 2 persons enter into a legally binding agreement that when the 1st dies ALL their property will pass to the survivor & after the survivors death to a 3rd part (in this case 7) then when the 1st person dies leaving a Will that complies with the agreement, the agreement becomes irrevocable & a breach of the agreement by your fathers partner would give rise to a breach of trust.

 

If she refused to accept that argument then it would require a court to decide, something which would be expensive.

 

Finally there are other avenues such as an 'Inheritance Act' claim etc that could be explored but they are complicated at this point in time as we don't know your partners intentions so I suggest you cross that bridge when & if you come to it

[JonCris]

Also without knowing the exact wording it's impossible to say but it may be that rather than an outright gift he has created a 'life interest' which would mean she has use of the property & income from any investments but that on her the death it passes to the 7 beneficiaries because if it's a genuine life interest then it's not hers to dispose of

Edited March 5, 2009 by JonCris

[PriorityOne]

I have just been through a similar nightmare in the last 18 months.... where, if my mother had passed away first, her entire estate would have passed to my step-father and effectively split between his beneficiaries after his passing.

 

Although my step-father had a similar arrangement (mirror Will ?), he was able to modify his Will when my Mum developed Altzheimer's and remove her from it (otherwise it may have gone towards care home fees)... but for Mum, it was too late as she was no longer mentally able to change anything at this time.

 

It's been a very long and complicated emotional journey.... after they both passed away within 9 months of each other. Fortunately (for us), my step-dad passed first.... and I say "fortunately" because during the last 3 years of his life, he'd acquired an extremely dubious "friend" who benefitted to the tune of £43K from his Will... and then disappeared as quickly as she arrived.

 

If this person had inherited a portion of my Mum's estate on top of this (by default).... I may not have been responsible for my actions...

Edited March 5, 2009 by PriorityOne
clarity...

[JonCris]

For future reference & to avoid these situation it's best for the testators to leave everything in a Non-discretionary Trust. Such a Trust can only be amended with the consent of ALL the beneficiaries & the court considers the Trustees merely as managers who have to dispose of the assets in accordance with the terms of the Trust as decided by the testator

[johnhowell]

Also, be aware that the "share" of the property may not be equal (50:50). I have 30% to my partners 70% - a deed of Trust has been written to reflect this.

So your father's share could be divided between the 3 of you and the partners divided by 4. Division by 7 of the whole may not be the correct proportioning.

 

Good luck,

John