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A woman's family have succeeded in their challenge to a will purporting to leave her £500,000 estate to her partner after a judge ruled that the will was a forgery. The woman had made a will in 2022 leaving her estate in trust to her daughter. After...
Under Section 71(3) of the Solicitors Act 1974 , where a trustee, executor or administrator is liable to pay a solicitor's bill, any person with an interest in the property out of which it may be paid can apply to the court for an assessment of it. A High...
The High Court has ruled that a will made by a man who was suffering from delusions caused by late-onset schizophrenia was invalid for want of testamentary capacity. In late 2013, the man had become concerned that someone was trying to break into his home...
The law affords testators a high degree of freedom to pass on their estates to whomever they wish, and the fact that the terms of a will may seem unfair to relatives is not enough to successfully challenge it. This point was illustrated by a recent case in...
People have a great level of freedom to leave their estates as they choose and disappointed relatives must overcome a high hurdle to successfully challenge a will. Recently, the daughter of a woman who made a will leaving her entire estate to one of her sons...
The best way to minimise the risk of a successful challenge to your will is to have it drawn up by a qualified solicitor. Recently, a woman's challenge to her elderly father's final will was rejected by the High Court . The man had made the will in March...
The manager of a care home has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for forging the will of an elderly woman who lived in the home. The woman had moved into the home in 2020 after becoming ill. She was described by the judge as 'particularly...
The High Court has rejected a son's claim that he was entitled to inherit his father's farm based on promises his father had made during his lifetime. The son's claim that his father's last two wills were invalid was also rejected. The father had died in...
The High Court has upheld the validity of a codicil to a woman's will which left the family farm to her two daughters and dismissed claims by her grandsons that she had promised the farm to them. The woman had passed away in 2020 at the age of 96. A will...
A will purported to have been made by an elderly woman during lockdown has been declared invalid because she had not signed it in the presence of two or more witnesses, as required by Section 9 of the Wills Act 1837 . The will was dated 25 April 2020,...
