claim made on a will

[Carebear0009]

I have been mentioned in a will by my godfather and this will has been contested by his estranged child and his ex wife - who are basically saying they shoud get everything! He was married for a very short time and I believe they split before the child was even born. He had limited access and eventually contact was broken completely. The child is now adult and at university. For some time, my godfather suffered with depression and they are claiming under their assumption that his will was made not in sound mind. The complete opposite appears to be true however (the will was also changed at a time when I saw a lot of him, which tended to mean he was well). The ex wife claims that they 'agreed verbally' that they would each leave their entire estates to their child. His will, which was changed a few years ago, very carefully divdides his estate between more than 10 parties, by percentages. He has left a very sizeable percentage to his child, amounting to many 10s of thousands of pounds, and the rest between his godchildren and some very good friends who he knew cared for him very much. It seems to me that this was more a complete moment of clarity, when he decided that he would not leave his entire estate to a child who, even in adulthood when they should have been capable of making a decision uninfluenced by the mother, did not want anything to do with him. BTW, he always kept up maintenance while the child was growing up, as set down by the courts. Am I right in thinking that THEY have to take US to court over this? Also it is not like he left nothing to his child - i.e. the child was not disinherited. The mother and daughter have already stated that they would like to reach a compromise rather than go to court.... I was just wondering if anyone had an opinion or advice on how likely it is that they (particularly the mother) have a leg to stand on.

[Androcles]

Any action is between the parties wishing to contest the will and the Executors. Has the Executor taken the will forward fro probate to be granted yet and have they got it?

Unless you are the Executor, they cannot take other beneficiaries to court, just because they don't like what they have been left in the will!

If they want to claim he was of unsound mind at the time he made it, they will need a great deal more than their opinion of his mental state.

I am sure the executor will point out that any legal costs incurred in fighting this will come out of the estate, so the child could end up with less as a result.......

[Hymie]

Sounds like sour grapes to me � that his ex-wife & child want (expected) more from your Godfather�s will. I would agree with Androcles, that they would need very reliable evidence that he was not of sound mind for it to have a chance of success.

Saying that you agree to give someone everything in your will, and you don�t � does not alter the validity of the content of the will (even if the conversation were recorded and/or witnessed by others), or whether the verbal agreement was made before or after the will was made.

If his ex-wife does indeed take the matter before a court, I would expect her claim to be rejected fairly quickly once no reliable evidence of your Godfather being of unsound mind, could be produced.