Leah Woodlee, Associate at Holmes & Hills Solicitors, outlines what you need to know about Wills, probate, executor duties and inheritance rights.
Over the weekend, I watched the latest season of Bridgerton and as a Wills and Probate lawyer my ears naturally pricked up when one of the cast, Sophie talked about not being included in her father’s Will and how this had affected her financially over the years.
Sophie was under the impression that her father had not included her in his Will and instead everything passed to her father’s new wife. As the story developed, Sophie became suspicious and went looking for his father’s original Will. Eventually, she found it in a locked box and held up to the camera a document titled “Probate” which stated that she had in fact been left a dowry.
Sophie found this out many years after her father’s death and so a lot of financial and emotional strain could have been avoided, if she had asked to see a copy of father’s original Will when he passed away.
Whilst Bridgerton is a TV series, naturally, my brain started to think about what would happen practically speaking if this happened in today’s world.
At Holmes & Hills, when a client completes and signs their Will, we keep the original free of charge in our safe storage facility to ensure that the original is safe and protected. We release to our clients a pack enclosing copies of the Will, so that our clients have copy at home to show their loved ones. We advise clients not to keep the original Will at home, even in a safe place, because if the Will falls into the wrong hands and goes missing or is destroyed then it makes it much harder to deal with your estate when you pass away.
If it is not known what firm of solicitors the original Will is lodged at, then you can instruct a third party provider to try and locate the original Will. They will write to all local solicitor firms asking if they are holding the original Will. If only a copy of the original Will can be found and not the original, then an application can be made to the Probate Registry (which is the Court that deals with deceased’s estate) to prove a copy of the Will is valid instead.
In addition, the document “Probate” was held up, this is known nowadays as a Grant of Probate and is a document which lists who the executors of the Will are and the gross and net value of the estate. The executors are people listed under a Will who are responsible for administering the estate, for example, collecting in all of the assets, paying any liabilities owed and to pay out the estate to the chosen beneficiaries. In Sophie’s case, it is unclear who the executors were, but they were not fulfilling their duties as an executor, as they had not distributed the estate correctly as per the Will.
When a Grant of Probate is issued in England now, it becomes a public document and so does the Will itself. Sophie could have downloaded a copy of the document for a cost of £16.00 and would have realised that she had in fact been included as a beneficiary of the Will.
Secondly, if Sophie felt that she had not been left reasonable financial provision under the Will itself, she could have tried to make a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. Under this Act, certain categories of people can try to make a claim against a deceased’s estate if they feel that they have not been left reasonable financial provision. By bringing a claim, it does not mean that she would have outright been successful, but the onus would be on her to prove to the court that she had not been left reasonable financial provision.
Thirdly, when a person passes away, we would meet with the executors listed under a Will to let them know what their duties are as an executor and how to administer an estate. Administering an estate can be very complicated, depending on the value of the estate and the assets involved and so it is important to seek professional advice, to ensure that the correct allowances are claimed and taxes paid.
It is important that you regularly look to review the contents of your Will, especially if your assets or personal circumstances change over time. So long as you have mental capacity and are over the age of 18, you can update your Will as many times as you wish. By not keeping your Will up-to-date, you run the risk that the people that you want to inherit your estate will not do so.
If it is the case that you are not including a person in your estate on purpose, for example you have had a falling out, it is important that you seek professional advice about this, so that we can advise you to put in place any extra documentation to help support your reasoning why they are not being included within your Will.
If you would like to put in place a Will or require any assistance in dealing with the administration of a loved one’s estate, then please contact one of our Will specialists in Essex & Suffolk.
Call us on 01206 598799 today to speak with one of our Wills solicitors. Or complete the form below.
Disclaimer
The content of this article is provided for general information only. It does not constitute legal or other professional advice. The information given in this article is correct at the date of publication.
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