Our experienced team deals with all aspects relating to Wills, probate and trusts.
For most people, it is very important to have a Will. A Will is not just a list of who gets what, but something that can give peace of mind knowing that all matters are in order when you pass away. We are constantly contacted by people who have been left with an Estate in disarray because the deceased did not leave a Will. In cases without a Will, the Estate passes via the intestacy rules, which list an order in which relatives inherit.
Wills are particularly important if you have no spouse or children. A Will would allow you to pass your assets to a friend or charity, rather than the government or a distant relative. If you are in a blended family with step kids, a Will can make sure that your children get their rightful inheritance. A Will is also the only way to disinherit someone, such as a child, who may inherit if you did not have a Will.
Having a Will gives you choice, whereas without a Will, you have no choice and your assets would strictly pass via the intestacy rules.
If you are interested in having a Will prepared, please fill out our questionnaire available here, either digitally or on paper, and send it back to us and we would be happy to assist.
Probate is the procedure that follows a death and involves reporting the value of the Estate and proving the Will. The outcome is a Grant of Probate which allows a deceased’s executors to deal with the Estate, such as selling property or receiving any larges sums held in bank accounts.
If you think you might need our help with Probate, either give us a call or fill out and return our questionnaire here.
Wills and Probate matters are usually uneventful, but there can often be times when things go awry and things can get complicated.
In one case, we acted for the children of the deceased against the partner of the deceased. The deceased ripped up their Will, meaning the Estate would pass via intestacy to their children, which the partner was not happy about so she made a claim against the Estate on the basis that the intestacy would not provide her reasonable provisions to live. There was a question of impropriety on behalf of the partner as a cheque was made out to them shortly before the death of the deceased. We used a handwriting expert who ascertained that most likely the cheque was fraudulent. In the end, the children agreed to allow the partner to keep the cheque to avoid needing to take the matter to court.
Cases like this highlight the importance of having a correctly drafted Will.
Another cause for disputes is potential undue influence and lack of capacity, for example a child arranging for a parent to have a Will which leaves everything to him. This is a particular problem with elderly clients or when we are contacted by someone to prepare a will for their parent. In cases such as these, we normally enlist the assistance of a third party organisation to assess the wishes and capacity of the client. In one case, we were contacting by the child of elderly couple who we had acted for previously to say that the parents wanted to write their other child out of the Will. For this, we spoke to the clients alone and had the third party also speak to them. In cases like this, we need to have a clear reason as to why clients are writing out children from their Will. In this case, we determined that we could prepare the Wills.