Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Anyone got experience of this?


Very sadly my younger brother has passed away - he and his wife had separated late last year, she had changed her name, they had sold their house, and were in the process of working out the divorce settlement. Thankfully they had no children.


As far as we know, his will leaves everything to his now ex-wife, and she is the executor.


On the day he died, he had an appointment with his lawyer to change his will and his life insurance beneficiary - he was planning to put our parents as the beneficiaries. Sadly he never made it to that appointment.


His ex-wife's family are the lowest of the low, driven by money at every opportunity, and have already caused problems by claiming they had sole right to arrange his funeral (thankfully my Dad managed to persuade them that this was our role!). We know they will fight tooth and nail to retain everything he had. As a family we don't care about the money, but hate the thought that the family that drove him to his grave end up with everything he worked hard for.


Horrible situation. Do we stand a chance?


This is all happening in New Zealand, but I'm assuming legally it will be similar in the UK.

Link to comment
https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/topic/31709-contesting-a-will/
Share on other sites

Yes, understand that completely KK - the difference in this case being that he hadn't got round to changing it and everyone knowing he no longer wanted his ex to be a beneficiary. If he had just waited another hour and put his signature to the new will there wouldn't be a problem.


He had even sent me a text (in the UK) the day before telling me she was shafting him in the divorce settlement (which also wasn't signed and finalised, so now not relevant) and he was seeing a lawyer to change his will.


I guess he didn't think through the implications of his actions and the mess that would be left behind for everyone to deal with :-(

Yes it seems an extremely frustrating situation and I do sympathise. Never say never, perhaps you can research test cases in NZ ?? If you can evidence that there was an appt scheduled specifically to change the will there could be a conclusion (reinforced by the text you mentioned, plus any other records of similar communications) that amendments were imminent to reflect his updated requirements.

Whereabouts in NZ, Pickle? If Wellington or Auckland I can ask friends if they have any suggestions for local lawyers.


Or try sending a PM to "EJTH" - an incredibly helpful lady who recently moved back home to NZ, unlikely to be checking EDF but might still be receiving PMs, I'm sure she could give some more local advice.


All the best, hope it gets sorted

I know absolutely nothing about the legal situation, but do you for example have emails from him (or anything else in writing or that is demonstrably written or sent by him) stating what he intended to do re changing his will?


So sorry you are having to deal with this on top of grieving for him.

If ensuring the unpleasant ex wife & her family don't get the money is the important issue, then contesting the will but declaring that your brother would have preferred it to go to charity / good works or similar might add weight to your position.


Otherwise very sorry to hear your sad story - I wish you well in your quest. Is it worth contacting the NZ embassy for advice on whether you need a specialist NZ lawyer?

Thank you all for your messages and PMs. Unfortunately my brother was not of the electronic age, so no emails or anything we can check up, and writing things down wasn't his strong point. The house had been cleared out by his ex-wife, so we didn't get a chance to look through his personal things (another source of much anguish for my parents, who would really like the watch they gave him for his 21st, but have been denied by ex-wife and her family - you just couldn't make people like this up!).


I'm enroute to London now (in LA filling in time in transit), but my parents had made an appointment with their lawyer which they should be at as I type. I've kept the text message he sent me, it's about the only written proof we have.


P

I'm so sorry to read this Pickle. I think all you can do is get some informed legal advice and hope there's some angle through which you can contest. The fact they had seperated and were going through a divorce settlement might be enough to contest the will. To me anyway, that is pretty strong evidence that the relationship was no longer valid, and magistrates are used to cases like this and accept that people are not efficient when it comes to keeping wills updated. But you will have to go to court to get that judgement.


As others above have said, it's a terrible thing to be going through on top of bereavement.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • We’ve got a gap on the roof of our shed that needs patching  don’t want to buy a huge roll so hoping someone has some leftover  happy to collect/reimburse 
    • I never said I thought it was targeted or deliberate. There also has never been a “stand off” or confrontation, we’ve spoken to them in a friendly manner about it. Our experience is they don’t seem to care. That’s the frustrating thing for us, if someone politely raises a concern at least take a second to reflect. Treat others how you would want to be treated.  I don’t want them to lose their job, far from it. But considering it could cost me a days work to fix any damage, I’m within my right to try prevent it.   
    • The SE22 Evri delivery family are lovely, and always say hello wherever we spot them in the area. We gave them a box of chocolates during Covid as they were working their socks off at Christmas
    • What was he doing on the stage at Glastonbury? Or on the stage at the other concert in Finsbury Park? Grinning like a Cheshire cat whilst pissed and stoned 20 somethings on the promise of free internet sung-- Oh Jeremy Corbyn---  What were his policies for Northern mining towns with no jobs or infrastructure? Free Internet and university places for youngsters. What were his other manifesto pledges? Why all the ambiguity over Brexit?  I didn't like Thatcher, Blair or May or Tony but I respected them as politicians because they stood by what they believed in. I respect all politicians across the board that stick to their principles. Corbyn didn't and its why he got  annihilated at the polls. A socialist, anti imperialist and anti capitalist that said he voted for an imperialist and pro capitalist cabal. He refused to say how he'd vote over and over again until the last knockings. He did so to appease the Islington elite and middle class students he was courting. The same people that were screaming that Brexit was racist. At the same time the EU were holding black and Asian immigrants in refugee camps overseas but not a word on that! Corbyn created and courted a student union protest movement that screamed at and shouted down anyone not on the left . They claimed Starmer and the centre right of labour were tories. He didn't get elected  because he, his movement and policies were unelectable, twice. He turned out not to have the convictions of his politics and died on his own sword.    Reform won't win an election. All the idiots that voted for them to keep out Labour actually enabled Labour. They'll be back voting tory next time.    Farage wouldn't be able to make his millions if he was in power. He's a very devious shyster but I very much doubt he'd actually want the responsibility that governance requires.
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...