Will Advice

[GypsyGSD]

Elderly man lived with a elderly lady for Seven year's the man recently passed away one of his daughters helped him make a will and helped him put his funeral plan in place about a year before he died the will was signed and witnessed dated also,, now another daughter who did not speak to her father whilst he lived with this lady has made strong accusations about missing money from bank accounts that she is convinced the lady has taken ,along with personal items which have been returned to his family this is causing great distress to the lady who never had any access to bank accounts etc would it be worth speaking to a solicitor to stop these allegations and to repair the lady's good name ,or could the lady request to see the contents of the will thank you

[EDDIE51]

There is no way to stop someone speaking, she obviously would not take any notice of a solicitor or even an injunction , even if it was possible to get on one. Do not get solicitors involved that will only cost money and achieve nothing.

[fiction-factory]

Hi- I'm puzzled by the final 'sentence', i.e. "would it be worth speaking to a solicitor to stop these allegations and to repair the lady's good name ,or could the lady request to see the contents of the will thank you"

If it's a choice between the two, the easiest and cheapest way forward is to let her see the will. I think it becomes a public document anyway after probate. But I doubt that

[fiction-factory]

sorry, can't finish answer- took me 10 minutes to type that. AB hangs for 5 mins at a time then submitted answer itself

[Peter Pedant]

No keep away from solicitors and certainly dont instruct them to write letters about defamation ... ( so I have saved you a bomb in fees already )

Recollect that the accuser has to show /prove her case
and that might be worth mentioning to her
Has the accuser access to bank statment or does she just know there was a lot of money in X and now there isnt ( enough/what I thought )

dont worry about the reputation keep the money

and yes show the will to the accuser - if probate has been granted then she has a right to a copy anyway - and if probate hasnt been granted then I would wait until it has before showing the will

Hmm sounds like a standard family quarrel where I come from where all parties are shouting - where is my share ? It is not enough and I dont want to pay any tax on it either ....

as I understand your post
You are advisiing the elderly lady who is being accused of dishonesty and hasnt seen the will ....

and there are two daughters - one of whom helped draw up a valid will and the other daughter is just wading in and blaaarting

I think you just wait and see to be honest ....

and recollect the accuser has to prove her case .....

[ one of my neighbours and ex tenants who doesnt like me much said there were compromising photographs of me on the internet ( a la Princess Margaret who was a go-er if you get my meaning phoooooar! ) and I said: you better print them out and show them to the police.

and that shust her up faster than I thought it would ]

[EDDIE51]

The best option is just to ignore the daughter, these family squabbles over money happen all the time. People will soon forget about the allegations.

[woofgang]

once a will has passed the official stages after someone has died it becomes a public document and anyone can see it.
https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/searching-for-probate-records

Libel and slander cases are heard at the high court and are expensive to bring with no guarantee of winning and no guarantee of covering costs if you do win, especially if the defendant has no money (isn’t rich).

[woofgang]

As usual PP has spoken with good sense.

[GypsyGSD]

Thank you for your reply's the lady is 92 and really do not want to be in this position even though they lived as a couple the man was also 92 they shared expenses eg household bills food holidays ect. but they never discussed what monies either had in banks accounts she says it was none of her business

[GypsyGSD]

it is only the other daughter who put the will together who has any knowledge what was written even the lady has no idea and did not want to know at the time but now she thinks that the nasty daughter has not benifited from the will so has started to blame her