Deceased persons previous will

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Pugmister

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Hi All,

Can a named beneficiary in a deceased persons will request see a copy of all wills previously made by the deceased.

Essentially the deceased made considerable changes to their will while in hospital and without any means to communicate either verbally or written. Some of these changes appear to be very suspicious particularly as the new beneficiaries are also quite large clients of the same solicitor / executor as the deceased.
 
"Can a named beneficiary in a deceased persons will request see a copy of all wills previously made by the deceased."

They can certainly ask and they will almost certainly be told no.

"Essentially the deceased made considerable changes to their will while in hospital and without any means to communicate either verbally or written. Some of these changes appear to be very suspicious particularly as the new beneficiaries are also quite large clients of the same solicitor / executor as the deceased."

You're really throwing it out there!

I suggest the beneficiary, who suspects wrongdoing at the highest possible level, take legal advice based on their relationship with the deceased and their suspicions.
mf
 
Yes, the beneficiary has been informed by the executor/solicitor that there was a previous will. Upon requesting to see this the executor/soliciotr said they will need to speak to the law library first to see if this is possible.

The beneficiary is taking legal advice on matters related to their small share of inheritance but it is my understanding that the beneficiary doesn't not wish to contest anything else. They merely want to see the previous will and form a conclusion of their own based upon this as to whether influence may have been exerted by other parties on the deceased for material gain . No legal challenge will be mounted, it is more of a piece of mind exercise.
 
"The beneficiary is taking legal advice on matters related to their small share of inheritance but it is my understanding that the beneficiary doesn't not wish to contest anything else. They merely want to see the previous will and form a conclusion of their own based upon this as to whether influence may have been exerted by other parties on the deceased for material gain . No legal challenge will be mounted, it is more of a piece of mind exercise."

Really? That's very high falutin talk!

Who do they think they are? What gives them any entitlement to go poking around? If they actually think there is skullduggery, they need to follow it up, properly.

If they had a close relationship with the deceased, they would probably have already been told what was coming their way.

If they did not have a close relationship with the deceased, then, frankly, they are just being interfering busybodies and have no right to know anything about the deceased's affairs save for the current will.

mf
 
mf1 said:
"If they had a close relationship with the deceased, they would probably have already been told what was coming their way.mf
Click to expand...

I understand the way it looks but not wanting to divulge identifiable details means I cant tell the whole story. Yes it was a very close blood relationship and yes a verbal promise was made on what was to be bequeathed to this particular beneficiary on the back of a previous transaction that took place. There is also an impartial witness to verify this promise.

Perhaps nothing illegal happened but events that occured or should i say didnt occur (against the recommendations of the doctors) during the deceased stay in hospital do lend themselves to the conclusion that influnce may have been placed upon the deceased.
 
So basically they can ask, and they can be told no. They are not entitled to anything- unless they get a court order.
 
That's pretty much what I thought although I was under the impression any previous will is destroyed upon the creation of a new one.

A court order is not something that would ever be considered so if the answer comes back as no from the executor things will be taken no further.
 
Slightly off topic but aren't peoples wills open to awful crookery unless someone has a copy?
 
My 10 cents.

If a new will was written that is the only one that can be submitted for probate.
I assume for argument that the will was validly made in terms of how it was constructed.
The big problem is that the current will must be taken by default as being the proper one i.e. the last will and testament of X.
A presumption will lie that the last will is the legally valid one and that it is the one to be admitted to probate.

If there are doubts about such issues as the testamentary capacity of the testator or similar matters it will fall to whoever alleges or believes that there is impropriety to make that case. That will usually involve litigation and associated risks including legal costs. I think that there may be a facility to lodge a caveat (an objection) with the Probate Office if there are concerns of substance but that is best handled by a solicitor who knows the territory.

If the current will is set aside or condemned I think that the previous one becomes the valid last will and testament. If there are civil proceedings and the previous will is required that should be obtained by an order for discovery.
 
Pugmister said:
That's pretty much what I thought although I was under the impression any previous will is destroyed upon the creation of a new one.

A court order is not something that would ever be considered so if the answer comes back as no from the executor things will be taken no further.
Click to expand...

Generally, when a new will is made that supersedes any previous ones.
 
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