Archive for the ‘Probate’ Category
Disinherited widow claims cancer made husband incapable
The widow of the late Thomas Smith is challenging a will that cut her out of his £500,000 estate after the couple had separated on bad terms. Olga Smith told the court some exotic anecdotes suggesting that her husband’s mental capacity was impaired by an undiagnosed brain tumour when he made the offending will.
Woman forged partner’s will
A MOTHER-OF-THREE tried to con a family out of their inheritance worth “hundreds of thousands of pounds” by forging her dead partner’s will.
Karen Philips used her laptop to create the false document after boyfriend Stephen Chambers died earlier this year.
Suspicions were raised when she tried to pass the will off as legitimate at solicitors Medlicot and Benson.
Philips, of Crowhill, Godmanchester, appeared in Huntingdon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (June 23) pleading guilty to the charge of fraud by false representation, under the 2006 Fraud Act.
Magistrates ruled she should be sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court because the crime was so serious, potentially involving an estate worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. The exact amount has yet to be disclosed.
Mr Chambers, of Ouse Valley Way, Buckden, had been staying with Philips, 45, on January 23 when he died, unexpectedly, on her sofa.
A few weeks later a will, purporting to be that of Mr Chambers, was presented to solicitors by Ann Howarth, the defendant’s mother, bequeathing the entire estate to Philips.
The document had also been witnessed by Ms Howarth and one of Philips’s friends, Lucy Smith.
The court was told Philips initially denied the charge of fraud when she was arrested.
But John Nooijen, prosecuting, said said that after being released on unconditional bail she later changed her plea to guilty when police seized her laptop.
She confessed to creating the will on the laptop, printing it out and getting both witnesses to sign it before submitting it to her solicitor.
“She continued to stress that these would have been the wishes of the deceased,” said Mr Nooijen.
Outside of court, Mr Chambers’s brother Mark explained how hard it was for the family to accept that the contents of the fraudulent will were his brother’s last words.
“We had to wait over a month before the family could even see the will, and then it was by way of a solicitor’s letter.
“It didn’t name his children individually and had no personal message or words for any of them. We decided to challenge the will, which made things so much worse.
“We couldn’t focus on burying Stephen because we also had to deal with lawyers at an extremely emotional time.
Mr Chambers’s sister, Tricia, told The Hunts Post: “This whole situation has caused so much anguish and stress because it’s taken so long getting to the stage when we can think about closure.
“We knew we wanted to be at court – to see justice being done and to represent Steve as a family. My stomach was churning over the whole thing.”
Hunts Post 24
It is unlikley any oine would expect their family to be in this situation. However, the best way to ensure this does not happen and to avoid this or any dispute amongst a family and a partner etc is to make a Will with a Solicitor.
The Will can be safley stored with the Solicitor and any question over the validuty of a Will can be greatly reduced if not eradicated.
To make a Will please call Jo-Ann Mason on 0161 683 3191 for iniatl free advice. No obligation
The E&W High Court has rejected a challenge brought by Mrs Leigh Cowderoy of Exeter against her grandmother’s will. The will left Helen Blofield’s estate to a neighbour who had helped look after her in old age.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8597064/Businesswoman-cut-out-of-grandmothers-will.html
The ONLY way to leave your estate to the person you choose is by making a Will. You can leave your estate to whom ever you decide but if this is then disputed after your death your solicitor will be in a strong position to provide evidence to show that you were capable of making your Will and that you were not coercred. A homemade Will does not provide this form of back up or evidence.
To make a Will call Jo-Ann Mason on 0161 683 3191 for a free initial consultation
“The extensive powers now available to HM Revenue & Customs pose a serious financial risk to lay executors who make honest mistakes when getting a house valued”, commented STEP chief executive David Harvey. “That is yet another reason why personal representatives should retain a qualified practitioner to help them administer an estate of significant value or complexity.”
Last year HM Revenue & Customs challenged nearly ten thousand probate valuations of land, raising an extra GBP70 million of inheritance tax charges.
The exact number of disputed valuations was 9,368, according to official figures. Where a challenge was brought, the resulting re-valuation raised the house’s estimated value by GBP24,600, say tax advisers UHY Hacker Young.
But HMRC’s new enforcement powers are also encouraging it to crack down on alleged under-valuations for probate. The agency is now asking personal representatives how much care they took when getting an independent valuation. The implication, says UHY, is that penalties may follow where “reasonable care” was not taken with the valuation. If HMRC decide it was not, the estate and its beneficiaries could end up having to pay penalties of 30 to 100 per cent of the additional tax liability, on top of the additional tax due. This could be a considerable sum for some estates with a relatively small cash component, says UHY tax partner Mark Giddens.
Estate administrators are advised to get several probate valuations, usually including one professional survey. But that may not satisfy HMRC, who consider that the PR also has a duty to draw the valuer’s attention to specific features of the property that may affect its price.
National Recognition for WE Solicitors
WE Solicitors has met the strict criteria set out by APIL (Association of Personal Injury Lawyers) to gain corporate accreditation status. The firm can now display the APIL logo as a mark of its expertise and dedication to finding justice for people injured through no fault of their own.
Steven Evans, Managing Partner who has also been accepted as a Fellow of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers said “We’re very proud to be recognised by APIL in this way,”
“When someone is suffering with an injury or work related illness they can feel incredibly vulnerable and may have little knowledge of the personal injury system. It’s comforting for them to know their lawyer has credentials and abides by APIL’s code of conduct, which means their pursuit of fair redress will be handled with the utmost professionalism.”
- The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has been fighting for the rights of injured people for more than 20 years. A not-for-profit campaign organisation, APIL’s 5,000 + member lawyers (mainly solicitors, barristers and legal executives) are dedicated to changing the law, protecting and enhancing access to justice, and improving the services provided for victims of personal injury.
- Visit APIL’s website at www.apil.org.uk.
Many disabled people fear that changing the law to allow assisted suicide would create pressure on them to end their lives prematurely, according to a survey by the charity Scope.
Coincidentally, next week is Dying Matters Awareness Week, aimed at ‘encouraging people to start conversations about dying and death and to discuss the type of end of life care that they would want.’
As reported in The Telegraph
The public are being warned to beware of fake e-mails purporting to come from probate research companies offering to trace their entitlement to unclaimed estates.
http://www.lostkin.co.uk/Pages/Pages.aspx?id=f77a2913-d9fd-4cf9-9df9-a1bb0881ef0b
If you have received an email from a Genealogist Company you can contact WE Solicitors, Ivy Mill Crown Street Failsworth Manchester for further advice. An initial half hour consultation is free. Please contact Jo-Ann Mason on 0161 683 3191
http://www.dyingmatters.org/documents/Leaflet_9_Web.pdf
Dying Matters has published a Put your House in Order leaflet which aims to prompt people to address the problems associated with lack of planning for end of life. So many people fail to address these issues due to lack of forethought, fear and an unwillingness to talk openly about dying and death
South Tyneside has increased the price of cremation by 18%, while Renfrewshire has put up the cost of buying a grave plot by 47%.
However, the average cost of a UK funeral has fallen as families hit by the increases cut optional extras such as flowers, according to a report Sun Life Direct.
The average cost of arranging a funeral in 2010 was £6,801 – £297 less than in 2009. This was because discretionary costs fell from an average of £2,156 in 2009 to £1,745 in 2010.
But the overall decrease masks a small rise (4.5%) in the costs of the non-discretionary costs, pushing the basic cost of a funeral up to £2,857. As well as an increase in council charges for burial and cremation, doctors’ fees and funeral directors’ costs have also risen.
At the same time, figures released by the Dying Matters Coalition found that half of UK adults have not made any financial provision for their deaths or even discussed their wishes with loved ones – leaving behind sizeable funeral expenses for relatives to cope with.
Dying Matters revealed that 60% of adults, including 25% over-65s, have not made a will, 82% do not have a pre-paid funeral plan and 46% have not made any financial provision for their own death.
The research also shows that fewer than 10% of people shop around and seek quotes from more than one funeral director.
To read more Click on Link to Dying Matters: