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

    • The current wave of xenophobia is due to powerful/influential people stirring up hatred.  It;'s what happened in the past, think 1930s Germany.  It seems to be even easier now as so many get their information from social media, whether it is right or wrong.  The media seeking so called balance will bring some nutter on, they don't then bring a nutter on to counteract that. They now seem to turn to Reform at the first opportunity. So your life is 'shite', let;s blame someone else.  Whilst sounding a bit like a Tory, taking some ownership/personal responsibility would be a start.  There are some situations where that may be more challenging, in deindustrialised 'left behind' wasteland we can't all get on our bikes and find work.  But I loathe how it is now popular to blame those of us from relatively modest backgrounds, like me, who did see education and knowledge as a way to self improve. Now we are seen by some as smug liberals......  
    • Kwik Fit buggered up an A/C leak diagnosis for me (saying there wasn't one, when there was) and sold a regas. The vehicle had to be taken to an A/C specialist for condensor replacement and a further regas. Not impressed.
    • Yes, these are all good points. I agree with you, that division has led us down dangerous paths in the past. And I deplore any kind of racism (as I think you probably know).  But I feel that a lot of the current wave of xenophobia we're witnessing is actually more about a general malaise and discontent. I know non-white people around here who are surprisingly vocal about immigrants - legal or otherwise. I think this feeling transcends skin colour for a lot of people and isn't as simple as, say, the Jew hatred of the 1930s or the Irish and Black racism that we saw laterally. I think people feel ignored and looked down upon.  What you don't realise, Sephiroth, is that I actually agree with a lot of what you're saying. I just think that looking down on people because of their voting history and opinions is self-defeating. And that's where Labour's getting it wrong and Reform is reaping the rewards.   
    • @Sephiroth you made some interesting points on the economy, on the Lammy thread. Thought it worth broadening the discussion. Reeves (irrespective of her financial competence) clearly was too downbeat on things when Labour came into power. But could there have been more honesty on the liklihood of taxes going up (which they have done, and will do in any case due to the freezing of personal allowances).  It may have been a silly commitment not to do this, but were you damned if you do and damned if you don't?
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

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