Excluded From Will View

Excluded From Will View.

We have covered on this website a number of times, and it has been National news this week, the story of the lady Heather Ilot who was excluded from her mother’s will despite trying to reconcile with her and then originally awarded £50,000 from the estate by a District Judge in the County Court, then increased in the Court of Appeal to £160,000. 

This week the Court of Appeal has been overruled by the Supreme Court and returned back to the original £50,000 (around 10% of the total estate) after being contested by three charities who were the main beneficiaries of the Will.

The reality is that excluding people from your Will is perfectly legal and many people do this, whether it is ex-spouses, ex-business partners etc.

The reality of having children, is that the law fundamentally states that a parent has “parental responsibility” and does not lose that responsibility, that said, once the child becomes an adult, that responsibility is diminished, but it is still there.  Your parents will always be your parents.

That said, courts generally look at what is reasonable.  In the case of Mrs Ilot’s mother, it would appear that both judges and lawyers agreed, and to quote them 2 years ago, she was “unreasonable, capricious and harsh”.  Likewise, it is reasonable that the deceased should be able decide who inherits their wealth.

Our view

The law allows that a Will can be changed after your death either via a Court Order or via a simple ‘deed of variation’.  A deed of variation is where all parties to the Will agree that it can be changed within 2 years of death provided all parties agree.

The above case is a sad one given that Mrs Ilot did leave against her mother’s approval for love, did marry and remain married and then tried to reconcile many times.  Many families have fall outs with some having irreconcilable differences.

The reality after the Supreme Court’s ruling is that if you wish to exclude somebody from your Will, provided there are ‘reasonable’ reasons to do so, then you can.  You should also make it totally clear, without any doubt, your exact reasons for excluding a potential beneficiary from a Will.

If the reasons for the exclusion are not reasonable, then we believe the precedent is now set at around 10% of an estate for an estranged child.