A decision has been reached in a case that I have recently covered with the British High Court siding with a group of charities that were challenging the will of an elderly widow who left her fortune to a friend in a later, contested will. The court ruled that the later of the two testaments at issue was not valid because the witnesses thought they were witnessing for the party that would later be a beneficiary rather than for the testator. In addition, the more recent will was informally written without the help of a solicitor which the court took into consideration when making its ruling. As a result, four British charities will receive the proceeds from the sale of the £1.8 million cottage and the son of the false beneficiary must pay £50,000 in attorney fees.
See Susannah Birkwood, Four charities win £1.8m legacy case in High Court, Third Sector UK, November 18, 2015.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
