Importance of solicitors' notes in rebuffing challenges to wills

Wills drawn up without accompanying meeting notes which explain what issues were considered and why decisions were taken are most vulnerable to being challenged after the person dies, explains Ed Ryder, Private Client partner at Harrowells Solicitors.

The warning follows a landmark Court of Appeal ruling in July in which £164,000 was awarded to a woman who had been cut out of her mother’s will.

Heather Llot contested the will of her mother, Melita Jackson, who left her entire £486,000 estate to animal charities in 2004. The Court of Appeal heard that, as a teenager, Mrs Ilott, 54, had eloped with her boyfriend. Her mother, who never forgave her, did not want her to get a penny of her estate.

Many people fear that the Court of Appeal ruling, which comes when the number of contested wills has risen by 100 per cent in less than ten years, could significantly weaken people's right to leave their money to those they want to inherit it.

Ed Ryder comments: “This is the latest example of a rise in the number of contested Wills for reasons including the recent recession; the rising value of estates due to greater post-war home ownership, self-made wills and larger, more complex families, where people divorce, then re-marry and have more children.

“Wills say what the deceased wishes to happen but, crucially, the meeting notes explain why decisions were taken, that all the appropriate obligations were advised upon and the decision-making process behind why certain bequests were, or were not, made.

“The Wills most vulnerable to being challenged are those drawn up using Internet templates or forms from stationers where there are no meeting notes and no legal input. I have seen Internet proforma wills which have not had enough space for all the beneficiaries and these could clearly be open to challenge.

”I've recently dealt with a case where there was no meeting notes and the Will drafting by a lawyer left an ambiguity. As there was nothing to back up the wishes of the deceased, it was litigated at a cost of thousands to the estate.”

Ed Ryder also said that, if people wish to leave all, or part, of their estate to beneficiaries outside the family, such as charities, the reasons must be documented. One of the comments in the Melita Jackson case was that the charities’ objections to the award to Heather Llot being increased were dismissed because the deceased had not demonstrated any connection to the charities in question.

He adds: “This is a subtle change. It potentially means that people must now demonstrate links to outside organisations they wish to leave money to. Even so, in spite of this ruling, the charities in this case still received a substantial part of the estate. It remains to be seen whether this will also be the subject of a further appeal.”