wills and contesting

I don't get it either. I've never been in that situation granted, but like you say it's the wish of the person bequesting the money.

I get it!

My grandfathers GF married him 6 weeks before he died and lefty everything to her. House, car, hairlooms, valuble antiques etc. EVERYTHING. He was very unwell and for his last few months he was not with it at all. My dad and sisters were left nothing that belonged to their mother (my grandmother) who died 25 years ago as all was to go to her.

They contested and spent a rather large sum on it. They didn't want his estate now, they wanted it when she died. But instead when this ladydies, EVERYTHING that has any meaning to our family goes to her children. FAIR? I think not!

ANyway- just an example of how things are very unfair sometimes!

gypsynita wrote: i understand it if you were the child of the deceased and (for example) completely left out of the will in favour of another child... which is pretty much illegal anyway... but grandchildren? nah that's weird

I disagree, it is not illegal to leave out anyone & does not matter how close they are. If you get on better with say a grandchild than a child then it is your choice to whom you want to leave things too.

I totally understand why people would leave out a child not every child grows up to be a good person & wills often reflect that. But distant relatives very really have a valid claim & a good judge would spot a money hungry slime ball.

I have a dear friend who was on the recieving end of this sort of situation. She's been with her partner a long time, and supported him through cancer. His family never even offered to help. She kept the business running when he was too sick to get out of bed. They were only married a short while before he died as she never wanted to be married (as a pagan it wasn't something she needed) but he wanted to so her rights were protected when he was gone. After he passed away, the family have dragged her through court a number of times, contesting, because in his will he provided for the only person that had cared enough to help and support him while he was sick. She took him to hospital for all appts and therapies, and in the last few weeks when he couldn't go home, she had friends look after the kids so she could sit by his bedside. His family never came to see him. He was intelligent and in his right mind up to the very end (he had to be he was running a business).

It was contested out of sheer spite and hunger for money (there was very little) and the house (which was left to her, along with the massive mortgage). They have nothing to gain. If they wanted to be acknowledged when he was gone, they should have been around when he was alive.

minik8e wrote: jazzy wrote: I disagree, it is not illegal to leave out anyone & does not matter how close they are. If you get on better with say a grandchild than a child then it is your choice to whom you want to leave things too. It's not illegal, but you do have an obligation to provide for all of your children - if you leave one out, then the Courts don't look upon it very favourably. If you do it on an uneven basis, you need to leave CLEAR reasons why you have done it. Some people have a certain clause which provides for any loans etc given during your lifetime to be taken into account at your death - i.e. their portion of the inheritance is reduced by the amount of the loan. Having worked in the legal industry for a few years, I have seen a few cases. Sometimes it was just people being greedy (she got more than me!!) but other times it was quite reasonable, such as in cases like I think it was katep described.

I agree, I was talking about the extreme, like a child that has gone off the rails, murder, rape, drugs etc, not in contact with the family, make life hard for the family & so on.

Here is a question for you. What about step kids, how do they get included in wills...the ones that are never seen..the ones that got the house & everything when the other parent left. The parent that walked away walked away with nothing & had to start again...does the child get anything?

Bizzy wrote: unfortunatley there are people out there who have the attitude they are "owed" by everyone! and take it personally if they arent acknowledged.... Katep wrote: I get it! My grandfathers GF married him 6 weeks before he died and lefty everything to her. House, car, hairlooms, valuble antiques etc. EVERYTHING. He was very unwell and for his last few months he was not with it at all. My dad and sisters were left nothing that belonged to their mother (my grandmother) who died 25 years ago as all was to go to her. in a case like that i would like to think that if you talked to the person they would be more than willing to give back things that belonged to the mother. You would think common sense would prevail!

She ignored us for years. WOuld not answer calls, letters, any sort of communication they tried, the ladies kids would fob us off. SO no, we are not idiots!

This is obviously a topic that touches a nerve with some people ...I don't have much experience with it , but I guess its a case of every situation being different .
As for leaving money for your kids , my friend's parents sold their resthome a few years back for a few million , when her parents die all the money is to go to the cancer foundation and 3 other charities , (can't remember which )

caitlynsmygirl wrote: This is obviously a topic that touches a nerve with some people ...I don't have much experience with it , but I guess its a case of every situation being different . As for leaving money for your kids , my friend's parents sold their resthome a few years back for a few million , when her parents die all the money is to go to the cancer foundation and 3 other charities , (can't remember which )

how does your friend feel about that?

caitlynsmygirl, she will be in the opposite situation than a lot of money grubbing people who can not wait for someone to pop their clogs to get their hands on the money.

I asked my cousin why and he just sent me an email about it now. I am kinda shocked and kinda not - basically as his father hadn't letf him anything in his will,(was sick for a long time and had no money at all) he felt his grandfather should have left him more. All I can say is "wow"