Death is a difficult business. Not only do you have to cope with the emotional cost of losing someone you love, you have to deal with setting up a funeral or cremation. If you have lost someone who is related to you, but who has been estranged from you for a while, you could find the death a shock. What could be even more of a shock, is the discovery of being disinherited. The financial strain of being left out of a will, and the emotional strain of being the only person who is left out, could be detrimental to your long-term health as well.
Many people do not know they have been left out of a will until the reading of the will by the solicitors in charge of the estate of the deceased. This can come as a big upset and cause a lot of deep-rooted issues. In general, courts will honor the wishes of the person who has passed away. This can feel upsetting and shocking, as there will be a lack of answers given that the person who has done it is no longer here. There are, however, some instances where you can dispute a disinheritance, you just have to know where to look.
Most people do not know that you can still contest a will, even in the case of disinheritance. Appointing contentious probate solicitors to assist you is a good start, especially if you believe there is a genuine and legal claim. The will has to clearly disinherit you if it has been a parent who has made that wish. If it is a spouse, you have the right to claim up to half of the estate depending on where you live. You can also contest whether the will itself was even valid; which can be a lengthy process.
There has to be a clear understanding as to whether the person who made the will was under any pressure to change the will and was influencing the decision to disinherit you. The person who writes a will has to have the correct mental capacity to do so and if this hasn’t been the case leading up to death and this can be proven, you could be well supported for your fight against the disinheritance. In some cases, the very way the will is written can change everything.
Before you embark on challenging being disinherited, you have to decide whether it’s a fight you would want to take. Not being mentioned in the will itself is known as accidental disinheritance, and can be overcome by being a valid heir to the estate, or at least part of it. Consulting a solicitor is so important when it comes to the will of a loved one.
No one likes to have to deal with the grief and sadness that death brings, but there are necessary things to be done legally when it comes to it. The key is to try to keep the emotional side of death to one side to focus on protecting everyone afterward.
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