Mother In Law – A cautionary Tale

Randall v Randall [2016] was a successful appeal to the Court of Appeal which allowed a husband to challenge the validity of his late mother-in-law’s Will. A Consent Order concluding financial remedy proceedings as part of a divorce settlement provided (by way of undertaking) that if the wife were to inherit more than £100,000 from her mother, any surplus would be divided equally between herself and her husband. Upon her death, the mother left £100,000 to the wife in her Will and the remainder of her estate (worth £150,000) to the wife’s children. The husband contended that the Will had been improperly executed and brought a claim to dispute its validity. Initially, the claim was refused, on the basis that the husband had no sufficient interest in the Will. The Court of Appeal reversed this judgment and concluded that he did have a sufficient interest in the Will to bring the claim.

The Court of Appeal decided that the husband, as the creditor of a beneficiary of the mother’s estate (i.e. a creditor of the wife as a result of the undertaking in the Court Order) had sufficient ‘interest’ in the estate to be able to bring the claim disputing the validity of the mother’s Will.

The important point from a Wills and Probate perspective is to ensure that a Will is properly executed (signed and witnessed). Had that been the case the husband would have been unable to even commence a claim.

The important point from a Family perspective is not to accept an undertaking dependent on the contents of someone’s Will. A Will can be changed as often as a person wishes.

Here at Blackstone Solicitors we have specialists in both Wills and Probate and Family law to avoid the pitfalls highlighted by this case.

Authored by Rebecca Dutton Posted in News Tagged as