Probate: Contesting a Will in the UK

Contesting a will in the UK

Where there’s a will there’s a way, never more so than when a will is contested by an unhappy relative. The recent Court of Appeal’s Judgment in favour of Mrs Gill, in the landmark ruling of Gill-v-RSPA shows the length to which Charities will defend their entitlement. Whilst the Gill case maybe seen as an extreme example, the number of will disputes is increasing as the recession places extra financial burdens upon families, so if you are unhappy with a will how can it be challenged?

Typically, will disputes tend to follow into one of the following areas:-

Undue influence and fraud wills. These types of disputes arise when the testator ( the term given to the person making the will ) is often pressurised to make or alter their will, while fraud in wills can arise when signatures are altered or wills even destroyed.

Incorrectly executed wills.All Will’s must comply with the Wills Act, which provides that the will must be in signed, dated and witnessed by two independent witnesses, ( neither of whom can be a beneficiary ) at the same time as the person making the will. If any of these rules are not complied with the will is invalid and fails.

Lack of capacity of the person making the will. The person making the will must have understood the nature of actually making the will, the extent of the property which he or she was disposing and the claims to which he ought to give effect to. These principals where established in a very old case called Banks and Goodfellow. Will disputes are common when the testator may have been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia.

Claims for financial maintenance. These types of claims can be brought against the estate if it can be proven that the person making the claim was in someway financially dependent upon the deceased before he or she died.

Other common will disputes arise when the Executor has acted unreasonably, or when the Deceased has made very clear promises of an inheritance, only to then disinherit or cut someone close to them out of their will.

Time is often of the essence in contested probate, as assets can be disposed by unscrupulous Executor’s and therefore immediate legal help should be sought. In addition the time limits are very strict, for example with a claim for maintenance, the Inheritance Act provides that a claim must be brought within six months from the date of the grant of probate.

If you are unhappy with a will, it is important that you seek immediate legal advice from an expert probate solicitor experienced in contested probate, as certain steps can be made to safeguard the disposal of estate assets. For example, a caveat maybe issued against the estate. The issuing of a caveat prevents a grant of probate being issued as is a very useful tool, to allow time for further investigations to be undertaken regarding the will in dispute.

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Five Reasons Not to Prepay Your Funeral Expenses

While funeral planning is an important aspect of an estate plan, we offer the top five reasons not to enter into a prepayment plan with a funeral home.

While funeral planning and providing for funeral expenses are an important aspect of an estate plan, there are better ways to handle these tasks than entering into a prepayment arrangement with a funeral home or mortuary. Here’s why:

1. Although there are several legal controls on how the funeral industry can handle and invest funds for future services, it is best to have your funds within a financial institution that is strictly regulated and has expertise in this industry.

2. Mortuaries and funeral homes can go out of business, and there is no guarantee in most cases that your funds will be returned to you, nor recourse for mismanagement or misappropriation of funds.

3. Often prepayment plans do not provide a method to withdraw the money in a financial emergency, nor to change your plans.

4. There is often no provision for relocation. People move and lives change, prepayment plans do not normally provide a method to choose another location should you move from the area.

5. Money paid now may not account for inflation of the future, leaving survivors to cover the cost difference.

Preplanning for your final arrangement makes good sense, but prepaying for these services does not. This can be addressed within a comprehensive estate plan and there are several way to provide for the expense of your funeral, including a Totten trust, a payable upon death account in which a beneficiary can take control of an account upon the passing of the accountholder, or with a Funeral Trust tied to life insurance.

Explore options and plan carefully to ease the burden of your passing, and seek advice to avoid making an uninformed decision in this sensitive area.

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How Special Needs Planning Protects Your Loved Ones

With professional special needs planning, you can rest assured that money set aside for a loved one’s care will be protected, as well as not hinder their ability to receive other kinds of assistance. Not only do special needs trusts ensure that allotted funds go directly to paying for the care and needs of your loved one, but also separate these funds from ownership of your loved one, so that he or she may still be eligible for financial assistance which may not otherwise be available if the same funds were left directly as an inheritance.

Planning for someone with special needs must be done very carefully and with great attention to detail when it comes to financial security. While a simple Will may have been sufficient to outline care instructions in the past, the times have changed considerably. Nowadays, to protect a loved one who has special needs, a thorough estate plan with focus on special needs planning, is absolutely necessary.

As touched on briefly above, a primary method of providing for a loved one is to establish a Special Needs Trust, so that parents, grandparents or other guardians have access to the funds to pay for caretaking. Setting up a special needs trust is relatively straightforward process you can start today by contacting us.

The main areas of consideration when setting up such a trust are:
? Who will be appropriate guardians for your loved one?
? Who will be a suitable Trustee to manage the trust’s finances?
? Outline details about education, housing, personal and emotional needs

Our law firm has helped many families build solid special needs plans, geared to provide the best financial and legal security possible. Contact us today for more special needs planning information tailored to your specific situation.

Paul Kraft is co-founder and administrative principal of Frank & Kraft, PC is one of the leading law firms in Indiana in the area of estate planning as well as business, tax and financial planning. For more information on special needs planning and other estate planning services, visit our website.

Setting up a special needs trust is relatively straightforward process you can start today by contacting us.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Kraft

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Why Would I Need To Utilize The Services Of An Attorney To Prepare My Will?

A Will and Last Testament can truly be a complicated tricky legal document that can have many tax and financial implications for individuals. In essence, the individuals that will be most affected by the Will are actually your heirs and beneficiaries that you leave behind once you pass away. It is of the utmost importance that these documents be prepared by an individual who has the requisite experience and knowledge in the field of estate planning in order to prepare your Will. You may be asking what exactly is estate planning and why you would in turn need these services by an Attorney. Well, estate planning refers to the number of strategies and practices utilized by attorneys in order to not only plan for the distribution of your estate once you pass on but to also take advantage of the latest tax strategies in the market.

Estate planning can take many forms but its function is really only in two parts. The first part is the fact that your estate has to have a method by which it in unambiguous language clearly states who is the receive what assets from your estate and in what quantity. The reason why this is very important is the fact that many individuals without a Will have no way of really expressing their intent as to the division of their estate. Thus you will find that the beneficiaries of these individuals will have to spend months if not years in court battling out the issue of who is to really get what from the estate. This is a process that could have so easily been avoided had the individual who passed away created a Will and Last Testament. The other part of estate planning is when an attorney applies the latest in tax planning strategies in your estate so that you will get the most tax advantageous situation for your estate.

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Article Submitted On: December 29, 2010

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