Father’s will is valid despite disinheriting two of his children

A father’s will has been declared valid despite a challenge from his daughter who was disinherited.

The father had two sons and a daughter. After his wife died he went to live with one of his sons and his daughter-in-law. He transferred the proceeds of the sale of his house to his son.

He later made a will leaving everything to the same son. He wrote two letters explaining his reasons for disinheriting his other two children.

The daughter disputed the will. She claimed that her father had made a will 30 years earlier which had never been revoked. However, she was unable to provide evidence that the previous will existed.

She then applied for reasonable provision to be made for her from her father’s estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

However, the remainder of the estate was of nominal value following the father’s transfer of the proceeds of his house sale to his son, so the application was impractical.

The daughter was also unable to establish that her father had lacked testamentary capacity when he had made the will. He had understood how much of his estate he was transferring to his son and that he didn’t want it to go to his other two children.

The court held that there was no disputing that the transfer of proceeds of the house sale was valid. There was no coercion or evidence that the father had acted under undue influence from the son.

He had discussed the matter with his doctor and had several years to consider what he was doing. The transfer was made over several months while the father was living with his son.

The court held that the transfer of the house and the will were both valid and should be upheld.

Please contact Nicki Denton-Mashi if you would like advice on making a will.