Laura Johnson – solicitor in the Private Client team

asks whether a Court can ignore your Will.

A general principle of English Law has always been that you are free to leave your assets to whomever you wish via a Will. This included disinheriting your children should you choose to do so.  However, there are some circumstances where a claim can be made against your estate by your child if they think that they should have been provided for by your Will. It used to be the case that a disinherited child had to show financial dependency on the deceased person in order to make a claim against the estate.  This is no longer the case.

The case of Ilott v Mitson involved the estate of Mrs Jackson who died in 2004.  Mrs Jackson only had one daughter and they had not had contact or a real relationship since the late 1970s when Mrs Ilott eloped with her future husband. Mrs Jackson never forgave her for this and attempts at reconciliation failed. Mrs Jackson prepared her Will in 2002 and left her entire estate of around £500,000 to three animal charities. Mrs Jackson wrote a letter of wishes at the time of drafting her Will explaining that she did not want her daughter to inherit anything. Previously the Court of Appeal decided that it was unfair for none of Mrs Jackson’s estate to pass to her daughter and Mrs Ilott was awarded £50,000. However, Mrs Ilott challenged the amount and at the hearing yesterday the Court of Appeal has awarded Mrs Ilott £164,000, (being one third of her mother’s estate).

In this case, the Court has decided that it was simply “unfair and unjust” of Mrs Jackson not to leave anything to her daughter despite clearly setting out her intentions in a letter of wishes. The Court took the view that Mrs Jackson had acted “capriciously and maliciously” and they decided it was unfair for Mrs Ilott not to inherit.

The court considered it relevant that although the letter of wishes explained why she was disinheriting her daughter it gave no mention of why she had chosen to leave her estate to the three charities. It would have been harder for Mrs Ilott to bring a successful claim if the letter of wishes had explained why Mrs Jackson had chosen the specific animal charities and what connection she had to them.

This case makes it very clear that when a person wishes to disinherit a child, it is vital to leave a separate detailed letter of wishes. We would always suggest that you do this anyway in such circumstances, but this case suggests that you must go further to explain the reason why you have chosen the other person or charity to benefit instead.

There are many reasons why you may not want to leave your assets to your children, or why you might prefer to leave unequal shares to your children. For example, you may have become estranged from your children or you may have given more money to one child during your lifetime. You may also feel that your children have sufficient assets and wealth of their own and it would be better for your assets to pass to your grandchildren, other relatives or charities.  There is still a chance that a disinherited child could make a claim against your estate, but a letter of wishes explaining the reasons for leaving out your child and also selecting the alternative beneficiary would help to defend such a claim.

This case is a reminder of how important it is to make sure there is a separate letter of wishes explaining the reasons for leaving your estate in the way that you have, especially when you have not included (or left less) to one or more of your children. A letter of wishes can be as personal as you wish and it can be amended or updated at any time without going through the formal process of updating a Will. For more information about the circumstances in which claims such as these can be made please see our recent article.

If you would like us to review your Will or letter of wishes in light of this case then please do contact me or one of my colleagues.

Testimonials

Read what our clients have to say...

View All

Excellent experience start to finish – always very responsive to any queries and the turnaround on the property I was buying was very quick, even in the busy time leading up to stamp duty deadline. Jenny was always very helpful and went above and beyond to close on a short timescale.

Ben Armitage

“Very approachable, practical solutions to problems, but most of all very responsive which I personally think is very important because if you need help, you need it quickly, or at least to know someone is looking at it for you”.

Joanne Rowe, Finance Director, Greater Manchester Chamber

“Always able to contact, very approachable, friendly and professional”

Nives Feely, JAM Recruitment

“I believe I have been able to establish a professional working relationship with everyone I have come into contact. Importantly, I sense the relationships which have been established give me the confidence that I can make contact with Davis Blank Furniss at any time and on any matter. I would also like to express my thanks to the very impressive “gatekeepers” who work in reception, not only for making me very welcome, but also for their professionalism”

Bill Pryke, CEO, Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors

“Thank you for your efficient and friendly help throughout this process. We have had it easy but your approach has been part of that”.

Robert Amsbury (Conveyancing Client)

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank you personally for the ongoing support and assistance the firm has offered to our parents over the years. I hope also that we may be able to call on you if necessary in the future.”

Valerie Fisher (Probate Client)

“Jo always provides great service, understands our needs and delivers on her promises. Our needs are relatively simple but the complexity arises out of the volume of work and short time frames, Jo always delivers.”

Peter Fernandez, Corporate Director at Royal Bank of Scotland

“A big thank you to all who dealt with my wife’s claim… We would not hesitate to recommend Davis Blank Furniss to anyone that may be in a situation like we have been…”

Anon (Personal Injury client)

“Before putting my case in Kirsty (Morbey)’s capable hands I’ve met a couple of other solicitors. None of them listen to me as intently as Kirsty and showed me as much empathy and understanding as she did. Simultaneously she was able to look at my case from legal perspective, explain all the options and follow each of our meetings with written summary of the discussed matters (in timely manner). Her advice was invaluable and led me to successfully ending the case matter (hopeful for good). I’m forever grateful for he work and would definitely recommend her to anyone looking for reliable, knowledgeable and committed solicitor”.

Anon (Family client)
5 star service

Our Manchester office is rated 5 stars on Google