“Will cannot be changed post-death”

Our client’s father made a Will splitting his estate equally between his children. Our client’s sibling disputed the Will on the belief that one should be entitled to a larger share of the estate to compensate for financial assistance that the others had received from their parents during their lifetime.

The disputing sibling relied upon a letter the father wrote many years before, acknowledging the gifts made to others.  However, the letter was written before the Will was made. If the father therefore wanted to reduce one child’s legacy to take account of the gifts that child received, he could have done that when making his Will.  For whatever reason he did not do so.  The letter could not be used as a tool for making changes to the Will following the father’s death.

Following review of the sibling’s allegations, we were able to demonstrate that one’s demands for an increase to their inheritance were likely to fail.  In addition, the associated delays caused by the dispute were increasing the costs of administration, which was an ongoing detriment to the estate and fellow beneficiaries.

We successfully convinced the disputing sibling to withdraw their claim against the estate, so that the administration could progress and the estate be divided in equal shares.