Recent days have seen several cases involving disputes over Wills and why it’s important to have a Will made professionally.
One case involved a 94-year-old who left his million-pound estate to his new wife, his former carer, to the exclusion of his only daughter. His daughter is now in court seeking to overturn the Will amid accusations of her father being forced into a “predatory” marriage with his new wife.
Another case involved the shocking deaths of a married couple by poisoning, allegedly by an employee who had “befriended” them and who then attempted to change their Wills using his mobile phone.
While, mercifully, most people’s affairs are less dramatic than this, both cases highlight why it’s important to seek expert legal advice when making a Will.
A Solicitor will not just ensure that your Will is legally valid. He or she will explore with you your family circumstances, needs and wants and will help you plan for and avoid problems which may arise in future.
In cases where there could be accusations of frailty, misunderstanding or vulnerability, a Doctor’s report could be sought at the same time as making a Will, to help answer any challenges in the future. For those in new relationships, trusts can be used to protect current spouses or partners while ringfencing assets for children of previous relationships. Wills can also be used to protect disabled, vulnerable or simply immature children from themselves, by putting their inheritance into a Trust.
It’s often assumed that if one of a couple passes away, the surviving spouse or civil partner will receive everything automatically, even without a Will. This is not the case and although legislative changes are on the way in Scotland to partly address the issue, for those with more valuable estates and no Will, not only may the majority of the estate not pass to the person or persons intended, but an avoidable Inheritance Tax charge could be triggered. A will can help prevent that.
The situation is worse for unmarried couples where one of the couple dies without a Will. A surviving partner is not entitled, as of right, to anything from the estate. A Will can be used to provide for them.
On a lesser, but still important, scale, making provision in a will for specific assets to go to specific people can help to prevent disharmony among the family and arguments over who is to receive heirlooms or other items of sentimental value.
For those with existing Wills, it’s important to keep these under review to ensure that they continue to reflect your wishes. Have children or grandchildren been born since the Wills were prepared? Has anyone in it died since?
In short, wills are associated with death and mortality, but the point of them is the opposite - they are there to protect the living. No one can prevent all family fall outs, but using a Solicitor to prepare your Will can help reduce the risks.
