This is part of a series of case round-ups provided by our Wills & Probate team. Click or tap here to access the whole series.

Background

Harbans Kaur and Karnail Singh married in 1955. They had been married for 66 years and had 7 children (one sadly passed away). They were all adult children, 2 are male and 4 were female.

Mr Singh died in 2021 and wrote his Will in 2005. He expressed that his estate should be left solely to the male line, therefore his two sons received his estate.

The family wealth was built up during the marriage. The £1million estate mainly comprised of residential let properties but contained other property assets.

At the time of bringing the claim, Mrs Singh was 83 years old and her income was £12,000 which she received from state benefits. She had modest assets. She was suffering from a number of medical conditions and was registered as disabled. At the time of bringing the claim, she had moved out of the marital home and was living with her daughter.

The Courts Ruling

The court found in Mrs Singh’s favour. The Judge stated “this is the clearest possible case” demonstrating that reasonable financial provisions had not been made. During her 66 years of marriage, she had played an equal role in the marriage and in the family business. Weighing up the factors in section 3 of the Inheritance Act which looks at several factors including financial resources, physical and mental disabilities of the claimant, the court awarded Mrs Singh 50% of the value of the estate.

Take Aways from The Case

This demonstrates that the judges are able to use their significant discretion to vary a Will, even when the deceased was very clear about why they made their decisions.

Get in touch today

If you would like to find out more about any of the topics covered in our Wills and Estate Dispute case round-ups, get in touch with a member of our team today: 01482 324252.