Please take some time to learn about our situation and hopefully prevent this happening to another family.

Our mother, Rebecca, married her second husband in August 2013. Unfortunately the relationship broke down for a number of reasons in Summer 2014 and they have not been living together since.

Tragically, we lost our beloved Mama in June this year. Her passing was premature (she was only 45 years young) and unexpected. We have all been devastated by this passing but have focused on trying to honour her memory, live our lives as she would have wanted us to and respect her wishes.

Mama was smart, funny and articulate and open with us all. Her top priority was us, her daughters, and our security. As a result of this, she carefully wrote a will prior to her second marriage outlining her intentions towards us and her second husband. The home she purchased was solely in her name, not joint names, so that it would pass to us, her daughters.

Amongst all the angst that followed the breakdown of her second marriage, she did not get round to updating her will to remove her second husband. However she made it clear to everyone that her estranged husband's financial irresponsibility had played a large part in the breakdown, and after he had left our home, she did not provide any financial support for him.

Furthermore, in the time after her passing we discovered that although she had left a handwritten Last Will & Testament, it had not been witnessed by two third parties and was therefore invalid, but we have all endeavored to comply with the wishes stated in this document.

Mama trained for ten years as an Orthodontist and worked for the NHS for twenty years. Education was always key for Mama and she sponsored less fortunate children via WorldVision to ensure they received an education as well. Through her career she earned and became eligible for NHS death in service benefits (including a pension and six figure lump sum). In her last written instructions, she clearly stated that these benefits were to be used to support us until we finished our education. The rest of her estate and possessions were also intended for us. Mama’s estranged husband was not mentioned in these instructions as she did not support him nor wanted him to profit from her.

Unfortunately in the absence of a valid Will, Mama was declared intestate. This means that her estranged husband (whom she had avoided for several years) is entitled to the vast majority of her estate simply because their divorce was not final. Within documents left by Mama, we found divorce papers that she had filled in but not lodged before she passed away. In view of their prolonged estrangement, his relationships with other women, along with his request for a divorce and the lack of contact between them, we all relied upon his repeated statements that “he would do the right thing” and “respect Rebecca’s wishes”.

Unfortunately almost a year has gone by since Mama’s passing and we have not had a coherent proposal from her estranged husband, who has also been deliberately evasive. As a result it has not been possible to reach any agreement as to what the “right thing” he repeatedly referred to is, or hold him to his word to “respect Rebecca’s wishes”. He has since claimed the six figure NHS death in service lump sum meant for our education, as well as receiving a monthly NHS pension that exceeds his previous salary and will continue for the rest of his life regardless of when he re-marries! This money has been life changing for him and he has since indulged in a new car, a couple of luxury holidays and embarked on new relationships (with Facebook comments even on the day of Mama’s funeral!) whilst we have all been left in the limbo, grieving and suffering.

We are bereft at the loss of Mama and whilst family and friends have tried to support us emotionally, nobody will ever replace her. We have survived Abigail’s first birthday without Mama, what would have been Mama's forty-sixth birthday and are now facing Libby's eighteenth birthday without her.

To add to this, we are angry and determined to honour Mama by defending her wishes to the utmost. This means we have to go to court to prove that Mama supported us and not her estranged husband. Unfortunately legal aid is not available for this and we are both minors, whereas Mama’s estranged husband has the benefit of the substantial NHS pension and death in service lump sum (earned by our mother for our university education and future security in the event of her death) whilst betraying her wishes and intentions in order to keep them.

Therefore we are appealing for help to raise the funds to allow us to bring a claim via the courts to challenge the Intestacy Rules. We have set a target of £15,000 (based on estimates from solicitors and barristers) to cover legal and court costs. In the event that this money is not needed or any remains unused, we will donate the surplus to WorldVision and a mental health charity (to be decided) in honour of our mother and will post a verifying link to that effect.

If you are only able to offer moral support, please feel free to leave a comment, and share this link with as many people as possible so that other families do not have their grief exacerbated in this way. This is something that could happen to anyone and we hope that at least by raising awareness about this issue, we will prompt others to take the necessary steps in order to protect their loved ones and ensure their wishes, after death, are adhered to and not betrayed by estranged opportunists.

Thank you for taking the time to read this,

Libby and Abi.