Szabo & Associates News & Updates

Contesting a Will with a family provision claim usually arises because a person has been left out of a Will or has not received what they believe to be a fair share of the estate of the deceased. The Court’s decision in such cases will be based on a number of factors that directly relate to the individual circumstances.

The English High Court is currently hearing an interesting case where the former head girl of a private school, Ms Voysey, inherited the $7.5m estate of the school’s headmistress and owner, Mrs Renny. The estate mainly consists of the former school and land in Hertfordshire, north of London. A previous Will from 2016 divided the property among various family members, but a 2019 Will left everything to Ms Voysey. Shortly after making this Will, Mrs Renny passed away, aged 82.

When someone dies, the property they leave behind is called their estate. Assuming the deceased made a Will, this document usually names the Executor who is to be the person (or persons) who will be legally responsible for collecting the estate’s assets, paying off its debts and liabilities and distributing the net residual to the beneficiaries named in the Will.

A person is considered a beneficiary when named in a Will as being entitled to receive a portion of a deceased person’s estate. The person with legal responsibility for looking after the distribution of the estate with due care and diligence is the Executor.

While writing your own Will, using a DIY kit may seem attractive from a cost viewpoint, it can be a risky approach to take. If errors are made or if witnessing rules are not followed correctly, the document could be invalid. Before examining these risks more fully, outlined below is a recent example of what difficulties can occur when writing a self-prepared Will without suitable advice. The turmoil in the estate of Peter Reid highlights the extent to which matters can go wrong if a Will is ill-prepared.