More people than you think have estranged family members or are subject to significant family disagreements. Exercising care and caution when making a will which excludes a family member is really important.
The law says that anyone can challenge a will or make a claim for provision from an estate. It is then up to a judge to decide whether the claim is valid or whether they should be provided for.
Often people are not sure about how to make a will which excludes someone. The impact of this worry is unnecessary stress you do not need. It is more important to make a will if you wish to exclude a family member as soon as you can. If you do nothing they may inherit anyway. Regardless of whether the claim succeeds, there will be a significant cost implication on your estate as it is very possible that a claim could end up with a Court hearing. This will result in less money being available for those you really want to inherit.
The solution is to think about why you do not want a particular person to benefit. What are your reasons and thoughts behind your decision, do you have evidence to support your thinking? If so write all of these things down in a letter which you can keep with your will. To prevent it from being argued that you lacked capacity to make the decision about excluding them get a capacity report to show that you were fully aware of what you were doing and the decisions you made when you made your will. Then place all of this information with your will and keep it safe.
Cutting someone out of your will is no reason not to complete a will. Just think carefully about why you want to act in the way you do and do as much as you can to protect yourself, your will and your family. Also, give us a call to talk through your thoughts so that we can reassure you. After all it is your will and you should leave your estate to those you wish.
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