I have a question to do with inheritance and wills. I've tried Googling, but it's too specific for general online advice.
I know my next step is probably to pay for a solicitor consultation, but just thought I'd ask on here first – just in case anyone can give any insight/help. The basics are below. Thanks!
• My mum and dad got divorced when my brother and I were young.
• My mum then remarried. So we gained a stepdad, plus a step brother and sister (from his previous marriage).
• My mum and stepdad wrote 'mirror wills' in the early 2000s. Each left everything to the other in the event of their death, with additional instructions that when the second person then died, the final estate would then be divided equally between the four children.
• My mum died in 2005, quite unexpectedly and young (53).
• We remained close to our stepdad, continuing to call him our 'father' and speak to him at least weekly.
• He died a few weeks ago, age 76.
• Out of the blue, the solicitors have now told us that he wrote a new will in 2017. We knew nothing about this. This divided the final estate as 40% to each of his two children, and just 10% each to me and my brother.
• It therefore completely goes against the wills he and our mother originally wrote, and their promises to each other. It also means we're getting a fraction of what belonged to our mother, and that she wanted us to have. (Not least because her life insurance payout in 2005 paid off their joint mortgage, so key assets like the house are undeniably as much hers as his.)
• The solicitors tell us this is completely legal. In effect, our stepdad had the right to do whatever he wanted, and our mum's mirror will effectively became worthless the moment she died.
I've found some stuff online where people have successfully fought 'similar' scenarios, but it's far from cut and dried.
My question is: is there anything we can do? In particular, anything that doesn't involve a potentially ruinous battle in the High Courts that would wipe out the losing party? Our step siblings are, unfortunately, not willing to discuss it – their view is that "that's what our dad wanted, so tough'.
Are there any kind of no win/no fee solicitors for this kind of situation – or are they just ambulance chasing cowboys who only deal in spurious cases?
I know my next step is probably to pay for a solicitor consultation, but just thought I'd ask on here first – just in case anyone can give any insight/help. The basics are below. Thanks!
• My mum and dad got divorced when my brother and I were young.
• My mum then remarried. So we gained a stepdad, plus a step brother and sister (from his previous marriage).
• My mum and stepdad wrote 'mirror wills' in the early 2000s. Each left everything to the other in the event of their death, with additional instructions that when the second person then died, the final estate would then be divided equally between the four children.
• My mum died in 2005, quite unexpectedly and young (53).
• We remained close to our stepdad, continuing to call him our 'father' and speak to him at least weekly.
• He died a few weeks ago, age 76.
• Out of the blue, the solicitors have now told us that he wrote a new will in 2017. We knew nothing about this. This divided the final estate as 40% to each of his two children, and just 10% each to me and my brother.
• It therefore completely goes against the wills he and our mother originally wrote, and their promises to each other. It also means we're getting a fraction of what belonged to our mother, and that she wanted us to have. (Not least because her life insurance payout in 2005 paid off their joint mortgage, so key assets like the house are undeniably as much hers as his.)
• The solicitors tell us this is completely legal. In effect, our stepdad had the right to do whatever he wanted, and our mum's mirror will effectively became worthless the moment she died.
I've found some stuff online where people have successfully fought 'similar' scenarios, but it's far from cut and dried.
My question is: is there anything we can do? In particular, anything that doesn't involve a potentially ruinous battle in the High Courts that would wipe out the losing party? Our step siblings are, unfortunately, not willing to discuss it – their view is that "that's what our dad wanted, so tough'.
Are there any kind of no win/no fee solicitors for this kind of situation – or are they just ambulance chasing cowboys who only deal in spurious cases?
