Contesting a Will

A question about : Contesting a Will

Hello

I wanted some opinions and advice , but not to be judged , so i made MSE my first stop..

situation is:

My ex Mother in law died recently
she had a son who was my husband , who died in 1998 , leaving our three children looked after ok and myself , i have since remarried.

She also had a daughter who died in 1986 , that person had two kids , who my ex mother in law took in and her and her husband (who has since died 1996) looked after them until adulthood

My kids are now 26,28,32

We visisted my ex mother in law maybe once a year

BUT

in her will she has left her house and contents (no cash or life insurance etc) to the two kids she bought up but nothing at all to my three kids (the cousins to the two bought up by Ex MIL) , one of them lived with her and cared for her until then end , if relevant

To be honest , i am not sure of my rights , but i cant believe my three have been left nothing , i believe mother should have made provisions for them

what could i do to challenge the will

My ex MIL had some stage of dementia but wasnt on medication for it , she died in the end of organ failure following a heart attack

i know it sounds harsh but i am looking out for my kids

what are my options ?

thanks

Best answers:

• Can I just ask WHY you believe your ex MIL SHOULD have made provision for three adults she saw about once a year, who were presumably not financially dependent on her?
  I cannot see that you (or they) have any rights in this situation.
• Hello
  i just believe her son (my dead husband) would have wanted her to treat all 5 grandkids equally
  I am hoping to be able to say my ex MIL had fading metal capabilities which could have impaired her judgement when altering her will last (June 2012) as i really thought my three would have been allowed for also.
  I aksed one of the benaficiries to show me the will at the wake yesterday and couldnt belive my kids werent on it , i took pictures of it on my phone to read properly when we got home and now feel i should take some sort of action
• Sorry but I am not clear which person lived with and looked after your MIL.
• HI
  5 Grandkids to my ex MIL and my ex DIL
  3 are my kids by my EX MIL son now passed (1998)
  2 are my ex SIL who is now passed (1986)
  one of the two is the one who lived with my EX MIL till the end , and she is one of the trustees and executors and beneficiraies , the other is the 2nd child , who is brother to her...also trustee and executor and the other beneficiary
• Given the will was written after your three were born it was deliberate, maybe because your MIL felt your three would inherit from you and your husband or because she was closer to them in their childhood, because your children rarely bothered to visit whilst one of their cousins was devoted to the end. It's totally irrelevant what your husband would have wanted, it's not his money so not his decision.
  Having dementia is only relevant if you believe the will was written when your MIL was not of sound mind and under duress. If it was done with a solicitor present many questions will have been asked to ensure she understood the implications.
  Look out for your children by giving them every support to make their own way in the world, education, perhaps even a lump sum during your lifetime to get them on the property ladder if you can afford that. Please understand you have no rights at all to challenge anything because you are not a blood relative, if your adult children want to challenge the will that is their decision. Please don't destroy your children's relationship with their cousins through interfering, stirring up ill feeling and greed.
• I'm afraid you will find it difficult to have reasonable grounds for disputing your MIL's will.
  It is also expensive and time consuming.
  Your adult children were not dependent on her, so not receiving financial provision does not apply in their case. However, she took in and raised her daughter's children, which probably guided her decisions in her will.
  Try googling for numerous guidance and reported cases to assess whether you have a case.
• Hi
  Thanks for your post
  Is there anyway i can prove that the solicitor and the secretary (who witnessed and signed the will made in June last year) maybe didnt check throughly enough that my ex MIL was fully capable ?maybe there is a way of convincing a judge that the two who DO benefit maybe coerced her into handing everything to them ?
  To be fair those two , do live in the same town and have done all of the looking after and her shopping , keeping her company etc but i just feel regardless of that my passed husbands kids should have benefited
  its hard to let go
  legally , where do i stand ?
• surely it really is up to a person to leave their money to whoever (or whatever) they want - provided any actual dependants are cared for (eg young children .
• I'm sorry to be harsh, but I think you stand nowhere at all.
  In England and Wales you can leave your property to whoever you like. So long as you're of sound mind, and you make provision for people who were financially dependent on you (or at least show you've thought about that), you can do what you want.
  The Scots do things a bit differently - they have a thing called "legal rights" - but I think that only applies to spouses and children, not grandchildren. I've no idea how it works in NI, so if you're there ignore everything else I've said.
  From what you've said, your MiL was as close to two of her grandchildren as she was to her own children. She wasn't anywhere near as close to your children. So it isn't a surprise that she'd leave her money to the two she was closest to.
• reminds me of the old saying "where there's a will, there are relatives"
• OK , so morally it doesnt look good , and legally , which is what matters...its a grey area....................?
• Nothing grey about it.
  She could leave her money to anyone she wanted and she chose the children she had raised.
• Legally you don't really stand anywhere - google grounds for disputing a will to check the normally acceptable grounds.
  The solicitor who dealt with the will won't discuss it with you - you aren't their client (now deceased MIL). It is a private matter.
  Are you willing to spend Ј150 plus for an hour's advice from a solicitor to explain it to you and explore whether you have a case?
• Im comfortable for money so yes,i probably am, i just want to nail this dementia thing and see if i can discredit the will to be honest, on that basis
• I could apply to the probate service to have the grant stopped ??