WILLS

[Aggers]

I was surprised to hear the news that some Judge had ruled that the Last Will and Testament
of some woman could be overturned because she had left a good proportion of her money to
charities, and her daughter had objected.

I know that some people will agree with this ruling, but the thought that bothers me is this......

As far as I know, the laws regarding Wills has been in existence for hundreds of years, and I was
not aware that Judges (who are unelected) have the power to alter the Laws of the Land, Surely
that is the prerogative of Parliament ?

What are your thoughts on this matter?

[Kaz]

Much as I feel for the daughter this is a very dangerous precedent What is the point of making a will if it is not honoured?

[Workingman]

If I am in sound mind when I make my will and decide to leave nothing of my estate to my children it is my choice to make.

My reasons for doing so are neither here nor there; they are my wishes.

It is not for a judge, years down the line, to reinterpret my wishes. S/he is not me and does not know my reasons for doing so, and even if they did it is not their place to change my dying wish.

[TheOstrich]

I agree with all three of you - it was what I would consider to be a perverse judgement.

I would fully expect the charities involved to challenge it, mind you, so I think there is a way to go yet.

[Suff]

I'm with this also. There is no point in making a will if a judge is then just going to change it. That then makes the legal profession, which takes varying sums of money for recording your wishes to distribute your wealth when you die, a bunch of charlatans.

This decision should be overturned unless they can show undue influence by the charities or that the mother was not of sound mind when the will was made.

There are often very good reasons why parents choose not to pass their wealth on to children. Reasons which do not have to be documented but do have to be honoured.

[medsec222]

I think this is a shocking abuse of power. I hope the decision is overturned.

[pederito1]

I have heard of cases of wills being overturned where the person making the will is deemed to be of unsound mind with medical reports following a stroke or strokes. The solicitor handling my grandfathers was confident he could get the will revoked but the benificeries backed down and made a fair distribution.
In Spain you have to provide for your children.

[cruiser2]

We have recently had new wills made. There were some changes to the previous one including adding a new executor to replace one of them in the other will.
We had to take two official documents which had our photos on such as our passports. He took copies of them. This is so that if there is a dispute, He can prove that we were the persons who made and signed the will.
And ours is a relatively simple will only three pages long with some paragraphs of legal jargon not bequests.

[Aggers]

The point I'm making is that, surely, a Judge has no right to change the law, which I consider to be a criminal offence.

Surely the police should take some action on this matter. (Just as if )

This action by an un-elected twit is not democracy.

[Suff]

Judges believe they interpret the law. Which, to a degree, they do.

In this case no interpretation should be necessary.

In Scotland Judges may rule on whether something is Just or Equitable or both together. In England and Wales they can only rule on what is Just, whether or not it is equitable.

So, in Scotland, a Judge could overrule a will by saying it was Just but not Equitable. A fine line but then that's the law isn't it.