Contesting a will

[mumnosbest]

My mother has just passed away, I was not aware until recently that she left a will in which she left my sister her house and my brother all her money. When she wrote the will we were not on speaking terms but have made up over the past 5 years. She did not change her will to add me in and as it turns out my brother and sister did not remind her!! My sister has already moved into her house and is in the middle of selling her own, she started this when my mother was still alive. And my brother has been helping himself to my mums money over the past few years and cleared all her savings. My mum never worked and all the savings and her house were bought by my father who died 20 years ago. What right do I have to contest the will?

[Hymie]

From what you say - virtually none.

Your example shows how important it is to update your will regularly (or at least review it).

If your mother were supporting you, you might be able claim that you were a dependant, and could reasonably have been expected to be provided for in the will (and contest it on these grounds).

You cannot contest a will purely because you thought the person should have left you something in their will.

My advice is to check the will out, that it has been completed correctly (witnessed etc) - if you can show there is a defect which invalidates the will, then you could have the will declared invalid. This would result in your mother effectively dying without having made a will (intestate), and her estate would be shared equally between her three children.
Bear in mind that if you did find a technical reason to void the will, a court may well decide that the will contained her wishes, and should not be ignored for a minor mistake.

[bednobs]

why would your mum need "reminding" BY SOMEONE ELSE? she had 5 years to change things and didn't. its your impression that your sister and brother were doing her over but perhaps she wanted them to have the money and or house when she was alive - after all there was a big part of her life you didnt know about when you werent speaking. Perhaps she never got over it and didnt want to change her will

[Law Student]

Hymie has the correct answer, but you should note that a claim based on lack of reasonable provision must be made within 6 months of the grant of probate.

LS

[dzug]

If you (or strictly, your mother) are/were in Scotland then you do have the right to claim. In England and Wales, as said above, only if you were dependent on her