Advice re parents will

T

tammy1

Registered User
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My dad made a will in 2010 where he would leave the house to my mother if he died and if she died it was to be split among their 3 children equally. My dad died in 2018 and this will has not been changed. Does it still apply or does my mother need to make a new will. She has been asking about it. The problem is that her memory not great lately and she being assessed so not sure would that have issues when it comes to making a new will
 
Did your father's will go through probate?
Is the house in your mother's sole name?
Are there other assets?
Are they in your mother's sole name?
If your mother is of sound mind then she can make a new will if she wants.
Has power of attorney been considered if it's not too late?
What do you mean by "she's being assessed"?
 
Did your mother also make a will in 2010?

As your mother outlived your father, the house passed to her. If she has not made a will, then it may now be too late to make one - you have to be of sound mind to make a valid will
 
Even if her memory is poor, if she is capable of making decisions she would still be entitled to make a will. She would of course need to go to the doctor to get her decision making capacity assessed but just because you have a poor memory does not stop you from expressing your wishes and explaining your decisions. If the doctor thinks she has the ability then she should go to the solicitor and make a will. It will give her peace of mind and allow her wishes to be carried out.

Just because you cannot remember what day it is, or what you had for breakfast, or when you were born does not take away from your ability to know that you want to leave your house equally to all your children. If she is fretting about it now is the time to act.

Make an appointment for the gp, & the solicitor. Get a copy of your Dads will. Explain to both the gp and the solicitor that your mum is fretting about her lack of a will, that she has expressed an opinion that she wishes to leave the house to her three children equally and that she has memory issues. Let them take it from there and be sure to tell your siblings.
 
JoeRoberts said:
It's very simple. Op is asking whether the father's wishes are binding if the mother does nothin
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The father’s wishes are expressed in the will. I suspect it was written in a way to cover a scenario where he is predeceased by the mother.

Regardless, the executor has a legal obligation to seek probate and discharge the will. If this had been done, there wouldn’t be a problem. Not doing so is only going to make the legal position more complicated so if it hasn’t been done already, it should be done without further delay. It’s going to have to be done at some stage and much easier to do when the beneficiary is still alive.

In tandem with this, the mother should make a will of her own so that the future position regarding the house is clear and unambiguous.
 
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As far as I'm aware - the Dad's will may not have needed to go to probate. It depends on whether he had many assets in his sole name. If the house and most of the assets were in joint names with the Mum, probate wouldn't be needed. (IANAL but am speaking from personal experience.)
 
Thanks for all the replies. So many questions. I know the will was in my father's name only and yes house left to my mother. Dont recall probate. In the event she predeased him it was divided amongst 3 children.

I am guessing from above that this will is no longer valid and my mother needs a new one.

It may be to late she is having memory issues over last few months, good days and bad days. Diagnoised with nothing yet but being assessed to see what is wrong.
 
Even if the OP's dear Mam cannot make a fresh will due to incapacity, and if no prior will exists, her estate will pass to her 3 children through intestacy in any case.
And if my reading is correct that is what was to happen should mother have pre-deceased father.

If that is what the OP is trying to ascertain then (s)he should not worry I would think.
 
If the mother dies intestate, probate will need to be done by a solicitor.

If she makes a will the family could save several thousand euro by doing a diy probate.

Other than this a will is not necessary.
 
tammy1 said:
I know the will was in my father's name only and yes house left to my mother
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Is the house in her name now?
My father predeceased my mother by 20 years, his will never went to probate, and the house remained in his sole name and it caused a lot of hassle, expense and delay when it came to dealing with my mother's will/probate.
 
tammy1 said:
It may be to late she is having memory issues over last few months, good days and bad days. Diagnoised with nothing yet but being assessed to see what is wrong.
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Tammy1 it is not too late at all; make an appointment for the GP tomorrow, and once the agree she has decision making capacity make an appointment with the solicitor and let them and your mum draw up a will. She could have a will in place in the next couple of weeks which would stop her fretting, and would be of great peace of mind to her.

Whether your mum has taken any steps in the last 7 years to ensure the house is in her name now and that she is the owner of any joint assets she may have had with your Dad is a different issue to deal with. But as @ClubMan says it may cause an awful lot of costs and issues if your mum has not sorted it all out.
 
The dad left the house to the mother - NOT to his children. They were his second choice in the event the mother died before him but this didn’t happen.

The problem seems to be that the house is not currently in her name because the dad’s will never went to probate and, even though she would have been entitled to it in the absence of a will, it was never registered in her name. It does not therefore form part of the mother’s estate and if/when she dies, ownership of the house will become problematic.

The OP should take good note of @ClubMan ’s experience and seek to resolve matters as early as possible.
 
My dad made a will in 2010 where he would leave the house to my mother if he died and if she died it was to be split among their 3 children equally.

He can't leave it to his wife and then specify that it be split among the children after she dies. Ownership would not have passed to her, only right of residence during her lifetime.
What exactly did the will say?
 
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