Eliza and Tim decided that they wanted to make a will as they had recently moved in together after getting married. They both had one child each from previous relationships and decided it was important that they expressed their wishes for what should happen to their assets should either of them die.
The property they lived in was owned jointly by them in 50% shares.
Eliza wanted to leave everything to her daughter, Lucy, upon her death including her interest in the property she shared with Tim. This would mean that if she died, the property would need to be sold and her 50% share be paid to her daughter or that Tim would need to buy her 50% share in the property and give the money to her daughter.
Tim wanted to do the same and leave his assets to his only daughter, Beth. This would mean that if he died, the property would need to be sold and his 50% share be paid to his daughter or that Eliza would need to buy his 50% share in the property and give the money to his daughter.
Eliza and Tim decided that they would find a will on the internet and use it as a template to write their wills themselves. The main asset they had was the property so they did not think that the will was overly complicated. They knew that the will had to be in writing, be signed by them and that two people had to sign the will.
Eliza went to her best friend’s house for the weekend and asked her best friend to sign and date the will after she had signed it. When she returned home the day after she got Tim to sign and date the will.
Tim took his will round to a neighbour’s house and two adults from that house witnessed his signature and signed and dated the will.
Eliza and Tim felt relieved that they had completed their wills and put them away and forgot about them.
Several years later, Eliza was involved in a road traffic accident and sadly passed away. Lucy was so distraught that she wanted to leave the country and start a new life in America. In order to do so she needed the money from Eliza’s share of the house to afford to move abroad. Lucy found the will that Eliza had made and asked Tim to sell the house so she could take her inheritance. Tim did not want to sell the house and he could not afford to pay Lucy Eliza’s share.
After speaking with a solicitor, Lucy discovered that the will was invalid as it had not been executed correctly. The will needed to be signed by Eliza in the presence of two witnesses. Both witnesses should have been present at the time Eliza signed. However, only one witness witnessed Eliza sign the will. Tim signed the will the day after Eliza had signed it which was evidenced by the date of each witness’s signature. Eliza and Tim had not realised that both witnesses should have been physically present at the time Eliza signed.
As Eliza did not have a valid will, the rules of intestacy apply, and Tim inherits the first £322,000 of Eliza’s estate and the remainder is split in two and shared between Tim and Lucy. Lucy was therefore left with a lot less money than she originally hoped for.