Grandfather's WILL changed

Has the Will definitely been changed?

If so, if could take a lot of time and money to challenge it and there's no guarantee of a successful outcome. Your Mother could end up having to pay costs if she were to lose.

Who is managing your grandfather's financial matters now?

If there are allegations of wrongdoing then perhaps you could formally raise this issue with the solicitor using the records that you have.

Fair Deal takes 22.5% of the value of the house. If it is a 5 bed property then the sister could possibly still afford a smaller house from the proceeds of the sale (although of course it would not stay in the family name).

I won't give you specific advice here OP, but I will comment that there in the end there will be only two choices;

1. Let it be
2. Go fully and wholly legal

There will be no way to handle this quietly, discreetly, or privately. You will have to effectively take legal action on the executors of the will, or your siblings, or both. If what you say is true, then you are dealing with an entitled person with an entirely different moral compass to your own, so there is no civilised way to deal with this other than to hand it over to a probate and family law solicitor and let them go in guns blazing.

Very very few people have the stomach for this ("sullying their parents name", "dragging their family through the mud", etc), which is why so many entitled/brazen people get away with it... because they know they can.

I'm pretty sure that the will cannot be challenged until the OP's grandfather dies. You cannot go to law and get a will changed while the testator is still alive.

The problem for the OP at this stage is that he may no longer be 'of sound mind' in order to make a different will. And even if he is and he makes a new will leaving the house to the OP's mother, what's to stop her sister going to law (after he dies) with the very same claim - that he was subject to undue influence?

And going to the Gardai because one member of the family is badmouthing another would be a total waste of time. Not a Garda matter.

I would think that is right.

Effectively, a will is a secret document that nobody is entitled to see until it is admitted to probate. At that stage a number of options might arise.

1. As soon as the testator dies OP's mother would be advised to lodge a formal objection (a caveat) with the Probate Office.
2. There may be a case to be advanced under S.117 of the Succession Act 1965 on grounds of fairness. LINK https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1965/act/27/section/117/enacted/en/html#sec117
3. Enquiries will need to be made of the solicitor who executed the will including what steps they took to satisfy themselves that the testator was of the requisite mental and freedom capacity. This will have to be done too after death.

OP's mother's best bet now is to see a solicitor to take advice and to have them ready for action as soon as death occurs. This might sound a bit clinical but it is better than letting the situation run away after death.

The brutal reality is that there may be nothing that can be done in the end. Better to take proper legal advice now and to be prepared and informed.

You can ask, but he won't tell you. He has an obligation of confidentiality to his client; he won't discuss his client's affairs - and that includes what's in his client's will - with you, unless his client authorises him to.

While their client is still alive? Nope. Why would you imagine they would have such an obligation? How would you feel if you were the client, if there was a rule requiring your solicitor to tell other people anything at all about what was in your will?

Being told that he is mentioned in the will, if not told exactly what has been said, would hardly prove that he is not being duped. Plus, it might give a false sense of security; on Tuesday you might be told - correctly - that you were mentioned in the will, and on Wednesday the testator might make a new will in which you are not mentioned.

If you are making a deal with somebody in which you will acquire an interest in his property in return for work done, and you need to know you're not being duped, you need a written agreement setting out what you will do and what you will get in return, and you need independent legal advice, including on whether you need to stamp and/or register that agreement in order to protect your interest. Being told that "you are mentioned in the will" is no substitute.

The executor is obliged to tell you about your entitlements under the will, if you have any. They have to do this even if you don't ask. They are not obliged to tell you about anyone else's entitlements under the will. So if Great Aunt Gertie has left you €50 and her plaster statue of The Infant Samuel at Prayer, that's all you are entitled to be told.

(It goes without saying that you are not entitled to be told even this until the testator has died. While the testator is alive you can ask them, if you dare, what they have done for you in their will. They may or may not choose to answer and, if they do answer, they may or may not choose to answer truthfully. You have zero rights in this situation, basically.)

The solicitor advises and acts for the executor. The solicitor will advise the executor of their duty to you, and - if instructed to - may act on the executor's behalf in telling you about your entitlements. But they won't do this without the executor's instructions.