In 2002 a woman made a Will and made it very clear she didn’t want her estranged daughter to inherit anything. After her death in 2004 and following numerous court cases, this was recently overturned by the Court of Appeal, awarding the daughter a third of her late mother’s estate. This seems to fly in the face of the principle of “Testamentary Freedom” in British law and has major implications for your Will.
If you now make a Will that doesn’t make “reasonable” provisions for your children it may be overturned by the courts.
See recent news story for more details: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-33684937
Estate Planners like myself have been following this case for a number of years and I have advised all my clients to make at least a token gift to all their children, even if they didn’t really want to. I’ve also advised to back this up with a “Letter of Wishes” explaining the reasoning. However now even that may not be enough to ensure your wishes are carried out.
There are no easy answers to this problem, which is why it is so important to seek qualified professional advice. If you wish to arrange a free consultation please get on contact with me now:
info@mwestateplanning-co-uk.stackstaging.com
(01202) 978 720