Lack of capacity invalidates will
We specialise in dealing with invalid will cases, including invalidity due to lack of capacity – such as this real-life case study involving a son who successfully challenged his mother’s Will. To find out where you stand call us for a free case assessment on 0333 888 0407 or send us an email.
A retired window cleaner who inherited £280,000 from an elderly customer has been jailed for 12 months following his failure to return the funds to the estate after her will was declared invalid due to lack of capacity.
Cecil Bray originally stood to inherit his aunt’s estate, having been at her “beck and call” since 1996. Bray (himself a pensioner) gave up work to ensure that he was able to provide his aunt with “round the clock care”, which in itself was a full time job.
In 2003 Mr Bray’s aunt, Mrs Spalding, who died in 2008, aged 98, executed a Will bequeathing the majority of her estate (including her home), to Mr Bray.
In 2005 Mrs Spalding underwent a major personality change following a series of falls. She ‘excommunicated’ Mr Bray from her life and formed a close bond with Albert Pearce, her window cleaner. Mrs Spalding then went on to execute three more wills, all of which were in favour of Pearce.
The final will was executed the year before she died. Mr Pearce insisted that he was not interested in Mrs Spalding’s money and he had in fact provided her with a high level of care in her final years.
However the court concluded that Mrs Spalding had “expressly agreed” to leave her home to Mr Bray and that she should be held to that promise in light of the fact that her nephew had relied on her promise and had provided her with such a high level of care. The court said that Mrs Spalding lacked capacity when she executed her final three wills and that the 2003 will was the one that should be followed.
Mr Bray therefore inherited all but £14,000 from his aunt’s estate. This meant that Mr Pearce was required to repay everything he had received .
When Mr Pearce failed to return the money, he was made bankrupt and a trustee in bankruptcy was instructed to find out what happened to the money from the estate. It was suggested that Pearce had tried to hide the money through a series of transactions involving various family members. Pearce said he had lost the money.
The bankruptcy trustee said that this was, “One of the worst cases I have seen of a bankrupt’s failure to cooperate and to have actively taken steps to conceal property.”
Pearce was committed to Pentonville Prison. The judge was quoted as saying, “this is an extremely serious case of contempt of court covering a wide range of reprehensible conduct.”
The case provides a useful precedent for those looking to contest the validity of a will on the grounds of lack of capacity. It can often be difficult to find sufficient evidence to establish a lack of testamentary capacity to the court’s satisfaction, but this case shows that courts are more willing than ever to thoroughly test a person’s capacity in order to determine the validity of a will.