urban

iTrader: (1)

Folks,

Does anyone know whats involved if a will is contested.

How do you contest one, what happens when its contested, does someone contact you etc.

I've been told by someone that they're not happy with the decisions made in a will and that they're going to contest it.
Supposedly I "rigged" the will!

Shaun

Brendan Hughes

What happens that all the money that could have gone to the different parties goes to the lawyers instead, and you both end up with nothing.

urban

iTrader: (1)

OK, but how do you contest and what grounds can you contest upon.
Surely you must have valid proveable reasons otherwise any one could do it.

Shaun

chiark

Shaun,

This happened to my mum on the death of an aunt. Her will left everything to my mum who was the only member of her family who cared for her in any way, but the two blokes who'd been caring for her (badly at times, but she had her independence despite being wheelchair bound so I don't feel any great animosity) contested it on no basis of fact.

She'd always told them that "you'll get exactly what's coming to you" when she died, and they'd assumed that this had meant a pretty penny or two. Everyone else, including my wife and me, were in on the meaning as were they before she popped her clogs, but still they contested.

Solicitors were involved, they got legal aid for their case, ended up wasting tax payers money with no basis in reality, family really didn't want to get involved in a protracted legal and court battle and eventually settled out of court. They wanted half the estate - not a chance. We offered an amount for them to 'k off, ended up negotiating up slightly, but not much at all.

Paid them an amount after full irrevocable legally binding conditions that that was teh end of it and that they'd never try this again, and they had less than 4 grand left by the time they'd paid off their legal advice - they spurned the legal aid opinion of "no leg to stand on" and continued paying barristers until they found someone who thought they might have a chance...

This all took 18 months and was horrible for all involved.

Drop me a PM for more info.

Harry_Boy

Shaun - unfortunately Brendan is just about right. You will need separate legal representation, as will the contesting party/parties.

It's up to the contesting party to provide evidence on a balance of probabilities that the will is invalid because of fraud or duress (undue influence on the deceased).

Best of luck! HB.

chiark

Ha, depends what a devious set of "people" you're up against! I'll not go into details, but basically the contestees were up for painting a picture of the deceased as someone who did a lot of wrong things... Even though this was all untrue, and provably so beyond any question of doubt, we didn't want to go to court and have her memory so besmirched.

We could have fought in court and have no doubt that we would have won, including costs, but this would have dragged the painful process out more.

To get primary estoppal on distribution of an estate isn't too difficult and the bar isn't set very high at all.

I would advise you to take good quality legal advice from a personally recommended local firm now. It will cost money, but unfortunately this isn't the sort of thing I'd recommend doing or fighting yourself.

chiark

HB, in our case it was nothing to do with fraud or duress - it was something to do with one party having a dependency on the other... can't remember the details, and to be honest I don't really want to.

Harry_Boy

Hi Nick - yup, 'dependent relative' rule..... Nasty..... Glad it worked out for your mum. As you say, sometimes litigants don't even listen to their own paid-for legal advice....

Edited to add.... Only referred to fraud & duress as Urban's post mentioned that he'd allegedly 'rigged' the will....

urban

iTrader: (1)

Folks,

Basically my sister is behaving like a pleb. My father died last year, left a will in which she got some money, myself and brother got some money and the house.

She's complaining that we rigged the will, but my Dad made a will directly with a solicitor and I certainly wasn't involved.
Even during my talks with the solicitor after he died, the solicitor always said to me that my Dad never lost his mind(he spent that last 7 months of his life in hospital).

The part that really pisses me off here is that she only went to the hospital to see him twice, supposedly one time all by herself which my Father said never happened and then when he died.

Shaun

Harry_Boy

Couple of things.....

1. Your lawyer will have to get witness statements from the people that witnessed his signing of the will, to demonstrate that he was of sound mind when the will was made, and that there was no influence or duress brought to bear on him.

2. How long was it after making the will that he died? Was he very ill when the will was made? These points are relevant to indicate his state of mind at the time the will was signed.

Your dad's solicitor may agree to swear an affidavit to the effect that he was 'lucid' when instructions were given, and when he signed. You may also need to get a statement from his doctor(s).

Also, did your dad mention to his lawyer his reasons for giving your sister a lesser proportion of his estate? If so, then this can constitute valuable evidence.

urban

iTrader: (1)

HB,

He only lasted maybe 4 weeks after making the will, my Mum died about 1 month before him unfortunately which I really think was the finish of him.
I wouldn't say he was very ill when he made the will, yes he was certainly ill but knew exactly what he was doing and saying.
He specifically requested the solicitor who did the will etc.

Don't know if he said anything to the solicitor for sure, but probably knowing him. I don't know the reasons either, but I'd be able to have just a good educated guess or two.

I'm going to mention to the solicitor tomorrow, as he has requested that myself and brother go to him and sign for the deeds etc.

Shaun

Harry_Boy

Sorry to hear this mate - must have been a very difficult time for you, and the current problems won't be helping either....

It seems as though your dad, although ill, certainly was of sound mind when the will was made. My suggestion is that his solicitor's recollection of events will be very useful here, as will his doctor's/consultant's testimony.

I'm sure it will work out OK, but best of luck anyway!