What is a Will?
A Will is a piece of writing, signed by someone with the intention of directing the distribution their assets on their death, and also signed by two other people who have, together (not individually), seen the first person sign the writing. At its most straight-forward, a Will should name someone to have authority over the…
What does an Executor do?
An Executor, a person named by the deceased in their Will as “Executor”, is responsible for managing the financial affairs of a deceased, finding out what it is, and carrying out he terms of the Will so far as the Law will allow. The State will intervene to make sure that taxes are paid first,…
Intermeddling?
Another strange word beloved of lawyers. It applies to a situation where someone finds that they have been appointed executor in a Will, starts acting in that capacity and then regrets taking on the responsibility. An example would be an executor who takes control of the deceased’s property and starts dealing with creditors and financial…
Can a Will prepared by a Solicitor be challenged?
Any Will can be challenged, generally in the following ways: It was improperly executed and therefore invalid. The Testator did not have mental capacity allowing him/her to understand what they were doing. The Will although valid does not provide adequately for someone entitled to claim, for example a child of the deceased. A Will prepared…
‘My wife and I have 4 grown up children and we haven’t made Wills, what will happen to our property and finances if we both tragically pass away together’?
A person who dies without leaving a Will or who has a Will but it is not legally binding, is called an intestate person. Their property (estate) must be shared out according to the rules of intestacy. In the above case, the estate will be divided equally between the four children, this means ‘children’ as…
Challenges to wills
In 2017 we wrote about the Ilott v Mitson case, where the Supreme Court upheld a claim against an estate brought by the long-estranged daughter of the deceased. It was widely predicted that the number of such cases would increase, and this has come about. Today came a report of a year-on-year increase of 47%…
EXECUTORS BEWARE
In an unusual case an Executor has been held in contempt of Court. It seems to have been a typical family situation with one of three siblings taking on the role of Executor. Unfortunately, he then proceeded to do nothing useful in the administration of the estate and eventually the others applied to Court have…
Coronavirus -Wills
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52215141 Tassells are very much open for business and ready to help with wills. We are of course aware of the practical problems associated with the vitally important issue of ensuring that the will is properly executed, and are regularly visiting clients who live in the area at their homes and witnessing “at a safe…
WILLS, PROBATE AND MUCH MORE
Tassells offer expertise not only in Wills and Probate, but also Lasting Power of Attorney, Family Trusts (sometimes called Asset Protection Trusts), and Court of Protection matters. Some reasons for choosing Tassells: We are a very long-established Lexcel accredited law firm. Our Head of Department (Ann Astbury) is an accredited Trusts and Estate Practitioner. We…
Gifts to Charity – But Which Charity?
There can be a number of reasons why you may decide to leave gifts to charity in your Will. This may be that you want to leave something to a cause that is close to your heart, ensuring that a local project can survive in the long term and other reasons. Gifts to charity are…