My Father passed in 2007 He told me that when his house sells I will receive £10,000 from the proceeds. His wife has now sold the house (April 2025) but she has not fulfilled my father’s wishes in his Will. How to resolve? Thank you
The first thing to do would be to check the terms of the Will to see if your father did leave you £10,000 from the net sale proceeds of the property. If he did not then there is nothing further you can do as your father did not formalise his wishes.
If your father did leave the instruction under the terms of his Will that you were to receive £10,000 from the net proceeds of sale then you, or a Solicitor instructed by you, should contact the Executor to ascertain when payment will be made.
It is also important to ascertain how the title to the property was held immediately prior to your father’s death. There are two ways to hold property:
Joint Tenants – There is a presumption of equality and if one person dies then that person’s share automatically passes to the other co-owner, irrespective of what the Will says.
Tenants in Common – There is a presumption of equality unless otherwise stated, and if one person dies then that person’s share does NOT automatically pass to the other co-owner and may go to someone other than the other co-owner.
If you would like to arrange an appointment to discuss the matter further please do not hesitate to contact me on 01376 567280.
Hello my wife and I emigrated to Australia in 1987 . We have made many trips back to the U.k to visit relatives. I am sure some people may be surprised and some might not . Two years ago my mother passed away closely followed by her third husband. We were totally shocked to find out we had been excluded from my mothers will and that of her husband. The last time we were back there my mother accused me of trying to hit her. This most certainly did not happen. I put my hands above my head to get past her in a doorway in what i thought was a none threatening way. she used to confront me in her kitchen about a lot of trivial things away from anyone else then go running to her husband when i responded . Most of what she told him were lies and was very frustrating for me. I am now in a position where I am fighting my sister who i think coerced her into changing her will in the first place . There are also 2 step sisters who backed me for the first 2 years of this legal battle but have now sided with her mainly i think because they just want to move on with their lives . I do not hold that much malice against them but it is somewhat annoying that they are now backing my sister. In the will they did state that i was not in the will but did not leave me a letter explaining . I have done work for a british solicitor here in Australia who told me if they did not leave a letter explaining their reasons for excluding me then that was my best chance of disputing the will. My wife has been recently very ill and spent a lot of time in hospital. This has made it virtually impossible for me to spend the time that is required to keep on top of everything that their solicitor has been sending me. We did however keep putting a block on probate through the probate office . They sent us a warning and we challenged that through the probate office and won and were given permanent probate. however without informing us they have gone to the family court in our home town of Coventry and now sent us a letter where we have to go back to the probate office and put our side of the whole sad story. Their solicitor has also sent a letter to us demanding we pay the legal fees for them to go to the court . That all amounted to about 10,000 pounds. We are not mega rich and we cannot afford to pay this . however we do want to carry on disputing the will. Any advice would be gratefully received.
Thank you for your comment and apologies for the delay in responding. It is very difficult for us to advise you properly on this forum without sight of the relevant documents and it is not clear exactly what has transpired here. If you would like to send in the relevant documents and, in particular, the most recent correspondence we can let you have some initial advice and a costs estimate.
My father died about 2 months after my step mum. I think they left mirror wills, in that they both left their estates to each other. The wife part of it to grandkids but rest of estate was added to my fathers. We are still waiting on the will to finish so its probate. My question is if the will states I am to be disinherited, but then that estate falls into intestacy . Do the laws of intestacy still apply regardless of what is stated. A family member did try and change the will but it was to late to be changed. Also does inheritance tax still apply if probate takes over 6 months, with still no sign complete.
It’s difficult to answer your question without knowing the full facts of your case. If your father’s Will failed to dispose of his entire estate and as a result a partial intestacy has arisen then that share of his estate will pass in accordance with the rules of intestacy (https://cunningtons.co.uk/intestacy-rules-flowchart/).
Inheritance is charged on the value of the deceased’s estate as at the date of death.
The administration of a simple estate can take up to a year, a more complex estate can take longer.
Thanks for the reply, much appreciated. Yes so she passed and left it to my dad, but he died about 2 months after she did. Her will went to probate all I know is there was provision for grandkids as part of that and the rest went to my dad. My dad knew that he needed to change the will and this was due to be done, but he died before anything could be put in writing and signed(he left it all to his wife). I think her estate needs sorting before they can do my dads. My brother and I are now the elders as all my dads family passed. I think that its probably not a case I was disinherited, but his love was total for his wife. Which was understandable, so my brother and I dont expect to be mentioned. We also dont think he would of left to anyone else. So my question is in his will if he did mention to be excluded and then it falls into partial intestacy, will his wishes be honoured. As you can tell I am still learning.
Thank you for your email. Did your father leave a valid Will? If he did then his estate passes under the terms of that Will. If the Will did not dispose of his entire estate then a partial intestacy arises and the undisposed part of his estate passes under the statutory rules of intestacy. If all the people he named as beneficiaries in his Will predeceased him then the entire estate will pass under the rules of intestacy.
I hope the above has clarified matters for you. If you require any further advise please do not hesitate to contact me on 01376 567280.
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My Father passed in 2007 He told me that when his house sells I will receive £10,000 from the proceeds.
His wife has now sold the house (April 2025) but she has not fulfilled my father’s wishes in his Will. How to resolve?
Thank you
Thank you for your enquiry.
Do you have a copy of your late father’s Will and the Grant of Probate? If you do not you can order a copy of both online Search probate records for documents and wills (England and Wales) – GOV.UK
The first thing to do would be to check the terms of the Will to see if your father did leave you £10,000 from the net sale proceeds of the property. If he did not then there is nothing further you can do as your father did not formalise his wishes.
If your father did leave the instruction under the terms of his Will that you were to receive £10,000 from the net proceeds of sale then you, or a Solicitor instructed by you, should contact the Executor to ascertain when payment will be made.
It is also important to ascertain how the title to the property was held immediately prior to your father’s death. There are two ways to hold property:
Joint Tenants
– There is a presumption of equality and if one person dies then that person’s share automatically passes to the other co-owner, irrespective of what the Will says.
Tenants in Common
– There is a presumption of equality unless otherwise stated, and if one person dies then that person’s share does NOT automatically pass to the other co-owner and may go to someone other than the other co-owner.
If you would like to arrange an appointment to discuss the matter further please do not hesitate to contact me on 01376 567280.
Hello my wife and I emigrated to Australia in 1987 . We have made many trips back to the U.k to visit relatives. I am sure some people may be surprised and some might not . Two years ago my mother passed away closely followed by her third husband. We were totally shocked to find out we had been excluded from my mothers will and that of her husband. The last time we were back there my mother accused me of trying to hit her. This most certainly did not happen. I put my hands above my head to get past her in a doorway in what i thought was a none threatening way. she used to confront me in her kitchen about a lot of trivial things away from anyone else then go running to her husband when i responded . Most of what she told him were lies and was very frustrating for me.
I am now in a position where I am fighting my sister who i think coerced her into changing her will in the first place . There are also 2 step sisters who backed me for the first 2 years of this legal battle but have now sided with her mainly i think because they just want to move on with their lives . I do not hold that much malice against them but it is somewhat annoying that they are now backing my sister. In the will they did state that i was not in the will but did not leave me a letter explaining . I have done work for a british solicitor here in Australia who told me if they did not leave a letter explaining their reasons for excluding me then that was my best chance of disputing the will. My wife has been recently very ill and spent a lot of time in hospital. This has made it virtually impossible for me to spend the time that is required to keep on top of everything that their solicitor has been sending me. We did however keep putting a block on probate through the probate office . They sent us a warning and we challenged that through the probate office and won and were given permanent probate. however without informing us they have gone to the family court in our home town of Coventry and now sent us a letter where we have to go back to the probate office and put our side of the whole sad story. Their solicitor has also sent a letter to us demanding we pay the legal fees for them to go to the court . That all amounted to about 10,000 pounds. We are not mega rich and we cannot afford to pay this . however we do want to carry on disputing the will. Any advice would be gratefully received.
Thank you for your comment and apologies for the delay in responding. It is very difficult for us to advise you properly on this forum without sight of the relevant documents and it is not clear exactly what has transpired here. If you would like to send in the relevant documents and, in particular, the most recent correspondence we can let you have some initial advice and a costs estimate.
Please contact us direct for further advice on how to proceed.
Hi.
My father died about 2 months after my step mum. I think they left mirror wills, in that they both left their estates to each other. The wife part of it to grandkids but rest of estate was added to my fathers. We are still waiting on the will to finish so its probate. My question is if the will states I am to be disinherited, but then that estate falls into intestacy . Do the laws of intestacy still apply regardless of what is stated. A family member did try and change the will but it was to late to be changed. Also does inheritance tax still apply if probate takes over 6 months, with still no sign complete.
Thank you for your enquiry.
Please accept our condolence on your loss.
It’s difficult to answer your question without knowing the full facts of your case. If your father’s Will failed to dispose of his entire estate and as a result a partial intestacy has arisen then that share of his estate will pass in accordance with the rules of intestacy (https://cunningtons.co.uk/intestacy-rules-flowchart/).
Inheritance is charged on the value of the deceased’s estate as at the date of death.
The administration of a simple estate can take up to a year, a more complex estate can take longer.
Thanks for the reply, much appreciated. Yes so she passed and left it to my dad, but he died about 2 months after she did. Her will went to probate all I know is there was provision for grandkids as part of that and the rest went to my dad. My dad knew that he needed to change the will and this was due to be done, but he died before anything could be put in writing and signed(he left it all to his wife). I think her estate needs sorting before they can do my dads. My brother and I are now the elders as all my dads family passed. I think that its probably not a case I was disinherited, but his love was total for his wife. Which was understandable, so my brother and I dont expect to be mentioned. We also dont think he would of left to anyone else. So my question is in his will if he did mention to be excluded and then it falls into partial intestacy, will his wishes be honoured. As you can tell I am still learning.
Thank you for your email. Did your father leave a valid Will? If he did then his estate passes under the terms of that Will. If the Will did not dispose of his entire estate then a partial intestacy arises and the undisposed part of his estate passes under the statutory rules of intestacy. If all the people he named as beneficiaries in his Will predeceased him then the entire estate will pass under the rules of intestacy.
I hope the above has clarified matters for you. If you require any further advise please do not hesitate to contact me on 01376 567280.