It took the High Court to sort out a family feud after one of three brothers was accused of siphoning off more than £50,0000 from his late mother’s estate in the weeks before her death.
The brother claimed that his mother had always intended for him to inherit her entire estate but was ordered by Mr Justice David Richards to repay more than £58,000 to his late mother’s estate. The woman had made a will in 2005 leaving her entire estate to him, but that will was never executed.
In this case it was accepted that the elderly lady was mentally alert, so there was no good reason why her wishes should not have been properly documented: if you want your estate to be distributed according to your wishes, you must execute a will.