Avery Associates specialists in all matters concerning valuations for probate bring you the latest IHT news……….
A 28-year-old woman has been cut out of her late grandmother’s will because it was claimed that her grandmother did not approve of her lifestyle and would not have wanted her to inherit part of her estate.
The Telegraph recently reported on the surprising case, where the three surviving children of the deceased took Mrs Barrett to court because they claimed that a mistake on the will had led her and her brother to benefit from the inheritance that her grandmother would not have wanted her to have.
The grandmother, Bridget Gabrielle Murray, was a staunch Catholic, and her three surviving children claimed that she was not happy that Mrs Barrett was living with her partner out of wedlock for 18 months.
Despite the fact that Mrs Barrett got married to her partner, the children claimed that their mother would never have wanted to give her a share of the £220,000 inheritance because of her lifestyle.
The case was taken to the High Court because the children of the deceased claimed that the will which had been made a few months before she had died contained a mistake in its drafting which left some of the estate to Mrs Barrett and her brother.
The children claimed that their mother had not wanted any of her estate to be left to her grandchildren, and this was accepted by Robert Miles QC.
As a result, Mrs Barrett and her brother were taken off the will and are not set to benefit from any of the estate. Their mother was Mrs Murray’s youngest daughter, but she died before Mrs Murray.
Despite the fact that the defence lawyer said it would be “very unusual” for Mrs Murray to leave her grandchildren out of her will, the argument that she would not have wanted them to share in her estate stood, and the estate will now be shared out between her three children.
For information and advice concerning all matters relating to valuations for probate call Jeffrey Avery on 0800 567 7769