Claim against mother's will succeeds after we prove that the will is invalid
This is a case study of a daughter's claim against her mother's invalid will
We recently represented a daughter in a claim against her late mother's will.
The daughter approached us to bring a claim against her mother’s estate as her mother’s last will left the entire estate to her sister.
Initially, we were asked to bring a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. The Inheritance Act allows an adult child of the deceased to claim financial provision from the estate of a parent.
During our investigations, we contacted the witnesses to her mother's will. We were suspicious because it appeared to be a homemade will rather than a will drafted by a qualified solicitor.
By contacting the witnesses to the will, we discovered that the will had not been witnessed correctly and was therefore legally invalid.
The rules regarding the signing and witnessing of a will are very specific and if they are not followed then the will can be rendered invalid. This is particularly common with homemade wills.
Because there was no valid will our client became automatically entitled to receive one half of her mother’s estate under the rules of intestacy, alongside her sister. It also meant that she could act as an administrator of the estate in conjunction with her sister.
She asked us in her capacity as personal representative to deal with the administration of the estate which we were happy to do and our private client team successfully dealt with the administration.