Making a will is something we all know we should do, but many of us keep putting it off. It’s understandable – a will reminds us of our own mortality, something we don’t want to think about, and it involves working with the legal profession and legal documents, something many of us would rather avoid!
Wills can be challenged, and, of course, there’s no way you can defend yourself at that point. People – which in this case would generally be relatives – can challenge a will if they feel they haven’t been adequately provided for under the provisions of the will or if they feel the will is invalid for some reason – if the person wasn’t of sound mind when they made it, for instance, or was heavily influenced by another person. At times these legal challenges will succeed.
Making a Will That’s Valid
There are will-making kits available and for many people with simple estates, they’re adequate. Whether you do it from a kit or through a solicitor, though, there are certain requirements that have to be fulfilled when making a will for it to be legal.
You have to be over 18, of sound mind, to understand what you’re doing, and be aware of the property you’re leaving and the people to whom you’re leaving it when making a will. It must be made of your own volition and without any outside pressure from people who might benefit.
When your will is complete, you need to sign it in the presence of two witnesses, both of whom must add their own signatures – that makes it into a legal document. To keep the process above board, neither a witness nor their spouse can benefit from your will. If any of them is due to inherit, they can still be a witness, but it means they can’t benefit from the will.
Whilst not vital to a will’s validity, when making a will you should also include the date you sign the will.
Of course, circumstances do change, and you might want to change your will. For a proper legal document, you could either make a new will or add a codicil. Unless there are big changes, a codicil, or amendment to the will, might well be adequate. Like the original will, it needs to be signed and also have the signatures of two witnesses to become a legal document, although they don’t have to be the same people who signed the original will.
You can destroy a will by tearing it up or burning it – but you have to do it yourself, or it must be done while you’re there. You also need to make sure that your new will has a clause revoking all prior wills.
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Challenging a Will
One thing to be aware of is that there are time limits for challenging a will, so you’ll need to act quickly through a solicitor if that’s your intention.
As long as the will was created properly, it can be difficult to challenge. If your legal challenge is based on the idea of unsound mind or undue influence of another person, you’ll need to have very solid evidence to prove your case, as the law allows a great deal of leeway to those making a will.
There are circumstances under which people who feel they haven’t been provided for can challenge the will, although they only have six months from the grant of probate in which to do so. Former and current spouses and civil partners can challenge, as can those deemed “children of the family” (which might not apply to adult children) or someone with whom the deceased has co-habited for two years prior to death.
A person with a substantial financial interest in property owned by the deceased – someone who owned the property jointly, for instance, or to have given a substantial sum to the upkeep of property owned by the deceased – might have a claim outside the will, but legal advice would be necessary.
My grandad said he was going to sign the will to get it releases but he become so Ill it didn't happen
Am next of kin what do I do?
My husbands father passed away 3 weeks ago and his mum let one of his brothers know their dad has left the house to a single grandson when she dies. My husband is one of 5 boys and there is 10 grandchildren. The sons feel anger and upset over this decision and also feel the grandson has been working on his grandparents to get the house, also, my husbands dad was a bully and we believe my husbands mum would have been coerced into going along with her husbands wishes. They have been together 64yrs and she loved him deeply. We’ve tried talking to her and she’s adamant she’s not going to change the will. It’s destroying the family. Is there anything we can do?
Can this be done and how much roughly would it cost.
If you are not the executor of the Will you are not automatically entitled to a copy. The Will only becomes a public document when probate has been granted. So you will need to contact the probate registry to ask for a copy once the Will has been administered.
My grandfather recently passed away and left to his grandchildren an amount "equal to the tax free allowance at the year of my death" with the balance going a third party charity. But I am confused over the wording since there is now an additional tax-free property allowance. Would that be included? My grandmother also did not utilise this allowance so under HMRC the 2x£125k would be tax free on top of the normal tax free allowance but I'm not clear how much we should get due to the wording of the will.
Please advice what I need to do as I can't get a copy of the Will I had ask my sister (other executor) for a copy but hasn't done so.
Also, there is another sibling from his first marriage that isn’t his by blood, if excluded in their will, can he contest this as well? My parent are adamant that only myself and sister have any inheritance.
Many thanks
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