A Father’s Secret Will

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

There was a case where the father died five years ago and a daughter discovered that there was a will kept secret from her by the solicitors.  It emerged that the solicitors were holding on the father’s will and the daughter was named as a joint executor together with the stepmother.  The child was never informed about this and it came as a shock to her when she discovered it.  The father clearly left everything equally to her and her stepbrothers but she did not receive any inheritance.

There might be a case for this or there might be none.  The first point is that if the father held joint property with the stepmother, everything could have passed automatically to her anyway, regardless of the contents of the will.  However, this is unlikely in second marriages, and if the will is valid, there’s certainly a slip-up when the father died and the will’s solicitors failed to inform the daughter of her rights.

In a case like this, the daughter can consult a lawyer and file proceedings to recover assets from the estate of the stepmother - the costs of these proceedings should be covered by the solicitors.  They may also bear costs of consequential losses such as capital growth and interest accruing to the assets of the stepmother.

Tags: daughter, estate, father, inheritance, joint executor, lawyer, losses, proceedings, rights, solicitors, stepmother, will
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Avoid getting burned by Statute of Limitations

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

This is the scenario: about 10 years ago, someone was named as executor of the will of her father and stepmother.  Then, the father passed away at age 86 three years ago.  However, the child did not know who was the attorney nor was given a copy of either wills.  Several months passed and they sold their home.  The stepmother sold all the family’s belongings in a yard sale and eventually moved out of town without notifying the children.

Since the father owned a business before retiring, he had accumulated a great deal of wealth.  However, the stepmother moved to another town and ceased all communication with the family after the cremation.

First of all, you shouldn’t wait for three years after death before beginning the estate process.  The fact that you were named as executor means that you have the right to be appointed as personal representative.  So if the second wife should open the estate, you would be given notice.  Also, if the father placed all funds in the joint accounts and transferred the home to the wife, nothing would be left to pass under the will.

In this case, there is huge delay in tending to business causes.  It causes several problems because of the statutes of limitation created to end the litigation.

Tags: attorney, estate, executor, litigation, personal representative, stepmother, will, Wills
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