Heather Lally, Associate Solicitor, Estate and Trust Practitioner and fully accredited member of Solicitors for the Elderly from FDR Law examines the option of a Statutory Will, when there is a lack of mental capacity to create a Will.
Believe it or not, whilst insuring your property and possessions or getting life insurance is something most people do think about, getting around to making a Will is something a lot of people never quite manage to find time for. Perhaps the question of who you want to pass your assets to seems far too complicated with extended families and the competing interests of loved ones, friends and charities.
Sadly, this means that in many cases someone might lose the capacity to make a Will leaving them either without one altogether or with an old Will which doesn’t reflect changes to their circumstances. Fortunately, however this problem can be solved with a Statutory Will.
An Attorney appointed by an Enduring Power or Attorney or under a registered Lasting Power of Attorney for financial decisions or a Deputy over finances appointed by the Court of Protection can apply to the Court of Protection for a Statutory Will to be put in place. This could be to assist if there are inheritance tax issues or to prevent potential claims to the estate on death, along with other issues that may arise.
Heather Lally assists clients in such applications and has dealt with applications were there have been long standing relationships between people, who were not married. There have been children and grandchildren from different relationships and people have not got around to updating their Will, before their mental capacity had deteriorated to such an extent that a new Will was not possible without the involvement of the Court of Protection.
Sometimes there are beneficiaries in other countries, non-family members who have not seen the Will maker for many years and new relationships formed during that period. Heather Lally has worked on successful applications resulting in cases, whereby our clients have received a 50% entitlement under a Statutory Will, whereby without it, they would receive nothing from the estate.
FDR Law can advise and assist in preparing such applications and obtaining a successful result for our clients.
For more information in relation on Statutory Wills, please contact Heather Lally on 01928 739300 or email Heather.Lally@fdrlaw.co.uk