Contesting a will

[Pickle]

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.

[titch juicy]

What an horrendous situation :(

I'm afraid I can't offer any help or advice, but wish you all the luck in the world.

[KidKruger]

Unfortunately the will is there for a reason, to explain how the assets are to be divvied-up.

The whole point of it is to avoid disputes / battles after the fact and to ensure the deceased's wishes regarding dispersal are honoured.

[Pickle]

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 :-(

[KidKruger]

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.

[Too Good To Be True]

The law firm Rubinstein Phillips Lewis has a solicitor with international probate and family law experience. (Declaration: one of my family works there)

Hope this helps if you choose to go down that route.

Good luck.

[GSJ57]

What a horrifc situation for you and your family. Sorry, don't have any advice to give - just wanted to say hope it can all be worked out quickly. So sorry for your loss.

[the-e-dealer]

Might be worth asking Lawyers in NZ. The chances of our laws being identical are somewhat small.

[seemster]

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

[KalamityKel]

do u know whether he had written down his wishes (not his will) anywhere pickle? i know can b like looking for a needle in a haystack...

[Sue]

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.

[Marmora Man]

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?

[Pickle]

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

[DJKillaQueen]

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.

[Pickle]

Thanks all. My parents met with a lawyer yesterday who was very positive that they have a strong case, so fingers crossed.

[KidKruger]

Hate to be cynical, but a lawyer being positive just means you're about to spend some money on a lawyer because he says there may be a (strong) case. I hope you do have a strong/succesful case.

[red devil]

KK is right. If they haven't done so already, your parents should ask the lawyer for case evidence of similar Will disputes that have been successful...