Do relatives have the right to see a will, Power of Attorney, Probate and receipts.

[Griptons]

My mother in law passed away nearly 3 years ago after being in care for just over 7 years with dementia.
I was in charge of her affairs under the terms of a Lasting Power of Attorney and the sole beneficiary of her will as my husband passed away in 1997.
Probate was completed over 2 and a half years ago and I am now living in the bungalow which belonged to my mother and father in law.
The will was drawn up in 1981 naming my husband as beneficiary and if he was not alive I was the sole beneficiary so my mother and father in law had full capacity at the time.
Some people have suddenly turned up claiming they are my mother in law's relatives wanting to see the above mentioned documents.
I have still got them but it would take hours to go through them.
Am I obliged to waste my time with these people and if I am can I charge them a fee.
I am not even sure they are relatives.

Susan

[rockyracoon]

All of a sudden they're interested after 3 years! tell them the will is public record and they can go to the Probate Office to get it. I wouldn't bother helping them.

[sasskins]

If they don't believe you, let them do the work to disprove

[Buenchico]

ANYONE has the right to view a grant of probate (which includes a copy of the will). It's a public document.

However YOU don't have to provide it. Direct the enquirers to this link (or print out the form and hand it to them):
http://hmctsformfinde...r/forms/pa1s_0405.pdf
Tell them that they should complete the form and post it, with a cheque or postal order for £6, to the address shown.

Chris

[joggybear]

What above said, but on the chance they contest the will, can yo spend weekend going through any diaries or old photo's of your mother in law? Then you will know a bit more about her early life, 'forewarned is forearmed' was my great aunts favourite saying. Good luck

[boxtops]

I can't believe it - yet another post with people arriving on a bereaved person's doorstep demanding some of the deceased person's estate. It's awful.

[dzug2]

Even if they are relatives they have no right to see any more than the public documents - ie the will and probate documents - unless they are residuary beneficiaries in the will.

The LPA I'm less sure about - you are supposed to return it to the OPG for cancellation when the donor dies, and I'm not sure if they return a copy for your records. I'd be tempted to tell them you did just that and don't have it any more - if they were not mentioned in the will they have no conceivable interest save curiosity in what you did. Even if you defrauded your MiL left right and centre it makes no financial difference to them.

[EDDIE51]

The estate has been dealt with correctly and they have no right to a single penny. You do not even have to answer the door or speak to them let alone give them any details of the will. It does not matter if she had 100s of relatives, they were left nothing and that is the end of it. There are no grounds to contest the will and even if there were it is far too late now.Even if she had promised them something verbally it has no legal foundation.

[fourteen85]

Boxtops you should not be surprised 'Where there a will there relations'

[MartinBev58]

Hi fourteen85

It is not always the relatives which cause the problems with wills.
My father passed away in December and it was the so called friends which started phoning and saying they were worthy of some of the estate.
I kept a list of the amounts they were trying to claim and the total in the end amounted to 3 times the value of my fathers estate.
I think they expected me to sell the house which was jointly owned by my father and myself, give them all my fathers money and most of my own money and go and live in a tent.

Martin

[woofgang]

EDDIE as a matter of fact, its actually not to late to contest a will 3 years after demise which is why solicitors who act as executors hold insurance against their having to pay out to lost relatives. This is not said to worry Susan, who has already been given good advice.

[tonywiltshire]

You are under no obligation to explain the terms of the will to the alleged relatives as Chris and others have said. The will is now a public document and the alleged relatives can view the document by applying in the usual way where they will find in the probate folder a copy of the will and any codicils. The granting of probate is a court procedure, which confirms the will is valid and the executors are properly appointed.

A will can be contested and there is a procedure which anyone can take which will stop probate being granted and if this becomes a serious dispute the matter may eventually come before a judge, from what you say this did not happen and there is a time limit for bringing a claim which is usually 6 months after the grant of probate.
WG this is the normal position.