Interpretation of will and probate

[lisa74656]

Hi All

This could be a long one so please bear with me.

My partner's father died last year. We left a will which stated his mother as the executor. However she passed away less than 2 weeks later. The next person listed is my partner. He also has 1 half sister who is listed after my partner. The will has been sorted by the solicitor with my partner as the executor and probate has been granted. On his grandmothers will my partner's father is the first executor with my partner and his sister as joint in the event of his death. Probate has also been granted on this will with my partners name but with a note saying power is reserved to another executor.

His father and grandmother jointly owned the house and they both left some money and some shares which whilst alive both indicated that all would go to my partner and nothing to his sister as she had not been seen for a number of years (only managed to track her down the day before the first funeral). It has now been bought to our attention that the solicitor has told his sister that she is a beneficiary in their fathers will. Now in his grandmothers it states specifically that all she would receive is her jewellery but in their fathers will it seems a little vague.

The exact wording is 'I devise all my estate and interest in the freehold house (address) aforesaid to my said mother (Name) for her life and subject thereto to my said son (my partners name) but if he shall have died in my lifetime then to my daughter (sisters name) absolutely'.

To Be continued.....

[lisa74656]

Now the way I interpret is that the estate (i.e. money shares etc) and the share of the house would first go to his mother but as she is now dead then to my partner but if he had died then to his sister. Can someone please advise if this is correct as the solicitor seems to think that the house goes to my partner exclusively and the rest is divided between them?

His sister is also questioning that probate was granted without her input. Can she do anything about it now?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Lisa

[lisa74656]

Another quick note. The solicitor is saying that although the property is dealt with, the will does not deal with the residual estate and therefore this is subject to the laws of intestacy. However, the estate is mention prior to the property therefore this surely should not apply??

If anyone could hed any light on this i would be most grateful. I will contact an independant solicitor on tuesday though to get a second opinion.

Thanks

Lisa

[dzug]

Your solicitor may be treating 'my estate and interest in the freehold house' as a fancy way of referring to the house only. Don't know if he's right or not - my own reading but as a non-lawyer is that he is wrong.

If the sister was named as an executor she should either have been a party in taking out probate or have agreed to have had power reserved - or have not been traced in time.

Not sure what she can do about it now - or what difference it makes. Apart from doing work, there isn't much for her or any executor to 'input'. The law of intestacy, if it comes into play, doesn't give much discretion over who gets what. It's split 50-50 if there are two beneficiaries. If there is a particular possession that both your partner and sister want, you sell it to the highest bidder and put the cash in the estate.