A grieving woman has been advised to get a lawyer after revealing on social media that her stepmother and stepsister may have talked her late father into leaving everything to them.
In a now-deleted post shared in January on UK forum Mumsnet under the username Daisyandthe66, the poster said that since her 92-year-old father died a few months ago, her stepmother has refused to discuss the will. The poster alleges he left her his £1.5 million ($1.8 million) house as well as all his assets.
“The whole thing is about £2 million ($2.4 million). Her two daughters were executors if she survived them. But she didn’t. I suppose my father’s three children will get nothing. When he divorced my mom to be with my stepmom, mom got next to nothing.”
According to a study by the Federal Reserve, the average inheritance received in the United States between 2016 and 2019 was $46,200. However, there is a significant difference between those who are wealthy and those who are not. The survey found that the average inheritance for the richest 1 percent was $719,000, while the figure for the less wealthy was just $9,700.
The poster said she believes her father only made this will to impress his lawyer stepdaughter, who is overbearing when he talks about money and may have influenced him to make a “mirror will”. But the poster said he probably regretted leaving nothing to his biological children.
When she tries to talk to her stepmother about the will, she shuts down the conversation, as do her stepsisters. They clearly don’t want to share the money, the poster wrote.
Family law attorney Sabrina Shaheen Cronin, founder and managing partner of the Cronin Law Firm, said Newsweek that when someone we love passes away, there are many things to consider regarding personal possessions and the person’s other assets.
“While discussing this important issue is often the furthest thing from our minds, and bringing your loved one’s property may even be seen by some as heartless or greedy, this discussion is nevertheless important and necessary, especially when you are an heir and will overruled by someone acting suspiciously,” Cronin said.
She continued, “When someone has an estate plan prepared, most people do their best to prepare for the inevitable and predict as many contingencies as possible. They want to control the distribution of their assets and protect their loved ones by preventing unnecessary problems or concerns. . Their wishes are known and in most cases the terms are straightforward and the estate plan is carried out directly.”
In this case, there is a lot of speculation about the father’s true intentions regarding his estate, Cronin said. Not surprisingly, she continued, it creates stress and tension for those who are legally entitled to an inheritance from their father’s estate, so the best thing for the poster to do is to hire a lawyer who will contact the stepmother and stepsisters to request a copy of the Will.
Cronin continued: “Since the woman has difficulty speaking up and asserting herself in the situation with the stepmother and stepdaughter, it is best that she hires a competent and qualified attorney to protect her rights and the rights of the other biological children, if any exist. rights. Depending on the terms of the will, the woman and her siblings may be entitled to some portion of her deceased father’s estate.”
Cronin said that if the woman’s attorney decides that a case in probate court may prove fruitful and the woman is willing to pursue it, all or part of the will could be invalidated. She gave some examples:
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1. If the woman believes that the version of the will relied on by her stepmother and stepsisters is false, she could produce a copy of the real will (if she has it) and compare the two. If the woman and her lawyer discover that the will was not executed properly or does not contain specific language disinheriting his biological children, she can try to invalidate the will.
2. If the woman believes that the will was executed when her father was mentally ill, she must prove by other means (such as text messages, recordings and/or medical records) that her father was incapable of making such important decisions , when he signed the alleged will.
3. The woman could claim fraud and duress and present any evidence she has to prove that but for the influence of her stepmother and stepsisters, her father would not have executed the will.
Cronin said: “Wills without a trust document must be probated in any case, but contesting a will can be serious litigation. Retaining an experienced attorney who knows how to handle these cases is imperative.”
Newsweek was unable to verify the details of the case.
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