Court of Appeal Rewrites Will

Court of Appeal Rewrites Will

The Court of Appeal has taken the extraordinary step of effectively re-writing a will which disinherited the only daughter of a woman. The decision is likely to be challenged in the Supreme Court.

The woman’s will left her entire estate, worth nearly £500,000, to three animal charities and gave nothing to her 50-year-old daughter, from whom she was estranged. The daughter, who has five children and lives mainly on benefits, had attempted a reconciliation with her mother, but this was unsuccessful. She challenged the will, making a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. She was partially successful in the County Court, which awarded her £50,000. She appealed to the High Court, which dismissed her claim. She then took her case to the Court of Appeal.

The case was heard in the Court of Appeal by Sir Nicholas Wall, Lady Justice Arden and Lady Justice Black and the judgment contains a comprehensive list of matters which must be considered in deciding whether or not the Court should exercise its powers to amend a will following an application under the Act.

In the view of the Court, ‘the absence of provision for the appellant was unreasonable’ and the case was remitted back to a different judge to assess the amount of the award payable to the daughter.

Says Andrew Eagle, “The decision represents a further instance in which the law is being ‘loosened’ by the courts. The deceased woman and her daughter were not close and the daughter was not ‘dependent’ on her in the usual sense of the word. However, the Court of Appeal has used the law, modified by subsequent case law, to make a financial provision for the daughter, even though this was in clear contravention of her mother’s stated wishes. The decision will be greeted with dismay by charities and others named as beneficiaries as it is likely to be used as justification for claims by family members excluded from their parents’ wills.”

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