"I have applied for probate and now I'm waiting the 6 months to see if anyone is going to contest the will. If they do contest it, how will I know?"
This is an excellent question, particularly if there is someone in the family who has been making noises about contesting the will. Usually the six months that you refer to is in place to allow a dependent of the deceased to apply for a greater share of the estate. Strictly speaking, this isn't contesting the will, but is only asking the court to change the distribution to give more of the estate to a person who was not sufficiently supported. In most places, a dependent (a spouse, minor child or handicapped adult child) has six months from the day the probate is issued by the court, NOT six months from the date of death.
If someone is going to make this kind of claim, they have to follow the court procedure set out in the law of the province or territory. Every province has its own laws and forms. The person who is making the claim would have to file certain documentation with the court and then serve the documents on you. They don't start a new lawsuit; they file all the documents in the probate court using the case number assigned to your probate application.
Serving the documents - or giving you a copy of them - is usually done by registered mail or in person. When you filed your probate documents, you would have been asked to give an address for service. If you applied without a lawyer, the address for service would be your home address. If you used a lawyer, the address might be the lawyer's office. And by the way, refusing to pick up your registered mail doesn't mean they haven't served you. They have.
If someone tells you on the phone or writes you a letter saying they are making a claim against the estate, that is not sufficient. They have to go through the proper court process just like you did when you applied for the probate. Just talking about it does nothing. If someone does tell you they want to make a claim against the estate, tell them to see a lawyer.
Everything should be discussed in the court to ensure proper ruling. The court needs to seek the basis of negating the will as well as the the grounds of the will owner regarding his power over his or her estate.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I were married for 6 years. Second marriage for both of us. We were comfortable but by no means well off. Over the past 4 years we have managed to give each one of our 4 children $40,000. My husband has since past and his kids are upset that their dad didn't leave them more. More what More? 2 days after he past they were talking Notary for reading of the will and division of assets. I didn't know what they were talking about. He only has a Lira account and a life insurance policy and I'm the beneficiary just likes he's the beniciary on my RSP account. Our big mistake was not telling his kids when he was alive that there's no money beside these two holdings. I'm sure they've named their spouse as their beneficiary. I think they think their dad has bank accounts full of money because he was always very generous with them.
ReplyDeleteSadly, it's typical that when a person in a second marriage passes away, the kids from the first marriage tend to focus anger and suspicion on the surviving spouse. Whatever their issues are, they are clearly using you as the scapegoat. Perhaps you need to point out to them that they had their inheritance - all 40K of it - already.
DeleteLynne
My mothers will has a clause in it stating that "the three girls don't want anything." My mother has four daughters and one son. He is the youngest and is being left everything. He has no children....and has never had to work. I would like my inheritance. Mom did not like "girls", and I feel that we are being discriminated against because we are girls.
ReplyDeleteI assume that the will says more than you "don't want anything". I assume it actually goes so far as to say you don't get anything.
DeleteIf you live in BC, you can hire a lawyer to bring an application under the wills variation act. People have been successful before in changing a will that discriminated against children on the basis of gender or other factors.
If you don't live in BC, you are probably out of luck. Other provinces in Canada don't provide for changes to a will unless you happen to be a spouse of the deceased, a minor child of the deceased, or an adult child with a handicap.
Talk to an experienced lawyer in your area. The key here is an EXPERIENCED lawyer whose knowledge of wills is deep.
Lynne