A recent case has shown the wisdom of checking your will to make sure that it accurately reflects your wishes. Not only can these change over time, but it is possible that your wishes were misunderstood at the drafting stage, as happened in this case. If someone dies and this has happened, it may be possible to go to court to have the will rectified, but this will inevitably involve unnecessary expense and delay.

The circumstances were that a man named Guy Goodman and his wife, Jennifer, wished to buy the property owned by Mr Goodman’s father, Geoffrey. A deal was done whereby Jennifer agreed to buy the property by paying Geoffrey £3,000 per month for 20 years. He agreed to pay her a rent of £1,000 per month, producing a net payment from Jennifer of £2,000 per month.

When Guy and Jennifer had their wills drafted in March 2003, these made provision for a monthly allowance of £2,000 be paid to Geoffrey in the event that they predeceased him. In March 2004, Guy died. Geoffrey and Jennifer disagreed over what his will was intended to accomplish, with the result that Jennifer had to go to court to have it rectified because she argued that it had not been intended to benefit Geoffrey in this way.

In the view of the court, what had occurred (and the solicitor’s testimony confirmed this) was that Guy and Jennifer’s instructions had been misunderstood. The result was a pair of wills (Jennifer’s had the same clause) which gave a legacy when the intention was merely to acknowledge the existing agreement for the purchase of Geoffrey’s property and the rental agreement. The court considered the fact that Jennifer’s will was couched in the same terms as Guy’s and that the legacy was to last only while Geoffrey occupied the property as strong evidence that this was the case, as was the fact that the allowance was equal to the net payment under the agreement.

This case is one which could have been avoided had the wording of the draft wills been carefully considered before they were signed and witnessed. Indeed, had the will been looked at carefully, and the erroneous clause spotted, the writing of a new will or making of an amendment to the existing will would have been straightforward.

If your will was written some years ago, or your family circumstances have altered, it might need to be changed. If you find anything in your will that you do not understand or which does not reflect your wishes, contact Brian Harding for advice on 020 7790 2000