wife changed will

[geoff1057]

my friend and his wife were living in his fathers house, which he then inherited when his father passed away. Later in life my friend went through a long illness, and eventually passed away. they had no children ,but he had made out a will stating that his wife could live in the house for as long as she lived, but when she passed ,the charity that cared for my friend would inherit the house. pretty straight forward....... however when his wife was alive,not sure if she changed the will,or made her own will, leaving the house to her sister and family. She has since died and her family have all the paperwork and are claiming the house... could my friends brother have a say in this.??? He isnt very happy about them claiming his brothers house for themselves...... any info

[woofgang]

Get some professional advice on this one, I have been in similar circs and you really need to go and speak to a solicitor.

[dzug2]

Ditto regarding legal advice.

On the face of it the wife did not have the power to make a will disposing of the house if she was a life tenant. But if she inherited it by survivorship (ie the father's will was wrong in granting her a life tenancy) then yes she could.

Your friend's brother has no say in the matter - but the charity most certainly does and will fight it if they think they have a case.

[geoff1057]

A decision on what happened to the house was put in my friends will, the wife was allowed to live their , but was never a benefactor. I think she made her own will , in which (wrongly ) she left the house to family, when it never belonged to her. My friends brother got involved because he knew of his brothers will, concerning the house being left to charity, and is fuming because it used to be his family home ,and some how another family are claiming rights to it

[lcg]

in that case, the brother needs to advise the charity of events and provide details of the will etc to them. he can have little else involvement in it.