Father's widow lying about the existence of a will

Exactly my thoughts Dolcelatte

It beggars belief that someone could just destroy a will if they don't like the contents! What's the point of doing one!?

It sounds like 'obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception', but wouldn't be better to go along with it and claim a third now. What's the betting the will then turns up?

It is not a requirement for a solicitor to either draw up a Will, or to witness it, in England.
Any two adults can witness provided they are not beneficiaries within the Will (with a couple of additional minor restrictions, such as sanity),
The use of solicitors is recommended due to the precision of legal language. If a Will were to be challenged in court, the legal decision could rest on an incorrectly placed comma!

A solicitor will normally keep a copy of a will especially if the estate is likely to be large, in the UK to be valid a will needs to be witnessesed by a solicitor and the family might not have any idea of its contents, not even the executors unless they are told.
A second wife with children from a previous marriage will try to enrich them by manipulating a will, solicitors are aware of this and will advise that specific provision is made for your own children rather than hers.

There is nothing stopping anyone from destroying a will. They may have made wills at that solicitor's office, but if she had the original and she didn't like the contents, she could just destroy it.

My dear friend died, and her will was with her son. He didn't like the contents so he just got a lighter and burned it up.

If the solicitor is holding a valid will for your father, you will be able to challenge the issue of the letters of administration.

Good luck and I hope you get the result you hope for.

Me too but I doubt it!

Presumably, you now know the way forward. I hope you're able to resolve things without too much unpleasantness.

Thank you all for your advice. Yes, it's the solicitor where they made the wills.
I was told it goes to the surviving spouse and anything left after their death to his 4 children and her 2. I have no idea if there was a caveat.
I can't really understand why she's said he had no will as we could claim the one third of the estate.

There's something fishy here.

I've just checked, in Ireland a widow gets two thirds of the estate and his children get one third if he died intestate. ( in UK wife would get first £250,000 then shared.)

Did they actually make mirror wills or was there a caveat.
That might have given the house to the wife for her lifetime then to his children.
A mirror will is usual for a couple who have children together but if children are from a previous marriage they could be cut out completely. To counter that a second wife is often given a life interest, so on the second death his children benefit as they would if he hadn't remarried.

You do need to see that will, if it's not at the first solicitor try other local solicitors

Well, if you mean that you've contacted the Solicitors where the Will was made, I think your father's widow is likely to be questioned.

If you mean that you have rung a local firm of Solicitors and are waiting for their response, this is still good as at least they will tell you the way forward.

Even if the response is not what you hope for, at least you will know the position.

Thank you, yes I have contacted the solicitors and I'm waiting for a call back. I just can't see how this could happen. Surely it means that anyone could just deny the existence of a will if they didn't like the contents? I'm hoping someone will tell me she's broken the law and she'll get a comeuppance

When your father made his Will, did he tell you the name of the firm of Solicitors? If so, contact them.

Thinking about what I've just written, I imagine you've already thought of this and, if you knew the name of the firm, you'd have been in contact with them.

I think you ought to take the matter further somehow or other. Perhaps Citizens Advice could help you or you could ask any local firm of Solicitors.