When your Step-parent makes a new Will after your parent dies which disinherits you, what can be done?

A common occurrence is where a stepchild finds themselves in a situation where their stepparent has changed their Will following the death of their parent.

Quite often person A and person B are married, each with children from a previous relationship.

A has prepared a Will leaving all their assets to their spouse, person B, in the first instance and then their children and stepchildren equally in the event that B has already predeceased them.

At the same time, person B prepares their own Will leaving all their assets to person A and then their stepchild(ren) equally in the event that person A dies before them.

What often then happens though is that the survivor inherits everything but then goes on to change their Will to benefit their own family rather than their stepchild(ren).

This scenario more frequently occurs when either:

A long period of time has passed between the death of person A and person B The relationship between the stepchildren and the survivor has become strained or distant following the death of person A The surviving stepparent is elderly and vulnerable following the death of their spouse and/or Other individuals become involved in person’s B life and influence their decisions

What can the stepchild do?

There are a few matters for stepchildren to consider in this scenario. They may potentially have several different claims that can be advanced against the estate.

A claim that person B’s later Will is invalid

It may be possible to challenge the validity of person B’s later Will.

There are 4 grounds upon which a Will can be challenged. These are as follows:

That the Will does not comply with the requisite formalities A challenge on the basis that B lacked capacity to make another Will A claim that B was not fully aware of and therefore legally able to approve of the content of the new Will That the testator was subjected to undue influence or coercion.

The above can either be considered as stand-alone reasons for concerns about the validity of a Will or several may apply. It may be the case, for example, that the testator is an elderly person who suffers from a complex neurological condition such as advanced dementia and they no longer recognise their friends and family members. Whilst this would not automatically mean a testamentary document is invalid, there may be sufficient concern to justify an investigation. It may be the case that the testator was influenced into changing their Will by someone who became a beneficiary in the later Will. Again, particularly frail or unwell individuals could be particularly susceptible to influence and coercion.

Proprietary estoppel

If any stepchild was promised an inheritance either by person A or person B and they relied on that promise to their detriment, it is possible that they may be able to advance a claim in proprietary estoppel.

Claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975

If any stepchild was financially maintained by the stepparent throughout their lifetime, and more specifically following the death of the stepparent, they may have a claim arising under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. This piece of legislation enables certain categories of applicant to apply to the Court on the basis that they have not been left anything by the deceased or they have been left an insufficient amount.

If you have any suspicions that any of the above may apply, then it is important that you contact our Contentious Probate specialist straight away.

Of course, the easiest way to avoid any of the above is the use of Trusts within the Will.

Fore example, the most valuable asset in an estate is usually the property.

By us simply changing the ownership from joint tenants (which is the usual way of a couple owning a property) to tenants in common and placing a property Trust within each Will it means that when A dies, their % of the property goes into their Trust for their own children. B has a right to continue living there but they don’t OWN any more than their original share so they can change the beneficiaries within their as many times as they like after A’s death - A’s half will be legally secure in Trust for their own children who will inherit as such on the death of B.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of these matters give us a call FREE ON 0800 668 11 64 at any time.