Wills and Probate | Certainty UK Will Register Blog

Chris Kenny, chief executive of the Legal Services has called for regulation of the Will writing industry. For the full report please read and listen to the following links;

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David Thomas is a Guinness World Record-holder for memory, his memory feats include reciting Pi (3.14159) to 22,500 digits without error and Sunday Times No.1 bestselling author. He has the power to recall many key facts, so remembering simple things such as where a Will may be kept shouldn’t be a problem. But of course, he can only remember facts he has learnt. Like the rest of us, David can’t recall what he doesn’t know.

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The Legal Ombudsman have published their first report, listing will-writing by unregulated will-writers as one of the most common complaints they receive. Unfortunately, as the Legal Ombudsman can only act on complaints made against regulated solicitors, these complaints cannot be followed up.

Protect yourself by using a solicitor practising in Wills and Probate, who as they are regulated there is the help available if things go wrong.

BBC Report 0n the Topic

Channel 4 Report on the Topic

A social worker who hid his mother’s death from her family as he tried to change her will has been branded a ‘disgrace’.

Kenneth Mould concealed his mother Evelyn’s death for over a year and deceived family members by telling them she was ‘in the garden’ when they called for her.

His lies were uncovered when Evelyn’s brother William Wandless became so concerned he called social services to check.

Mr Wandless, 71, of Whickham, Gateshead, spoke out after the pensioner’s son was struck off from ever doing social work again.

After being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2004, Evelyn’s health deteriorated before she left her home of four decades in North Shields, North Tyneside, to live with her son, Kenneth, in Surrey.

Prior to her death, relatives said that she had become extremely forgetful, losing her keys and leaving food to burn on the hob, and often insisted her dead husband was alive and upstairs.

Mould took advantage of the 86-year-old’s severe mental impairment and forced her to replace her will with a new document which made him the sole beneficiary.

She died in February 2007, but in the 12 months that followed, Mould did not tell the family of his mother’s death, writing emails and taking calls in which  he claimed she was alive and well.

Last night, Mr Wandless spoke of the moment he discovered his sister was dead and the heartache of not having the opportunity to attend her funeral.

The 71-year-old, of Whickham, Gateshead, said: ‘I will never forgive him. It is a disgrace and I want everyone to know what he did. I have never been to her funeral and I do not even know where my sister is buried.

‘She was a lovely woman and it’s awful that he took advantage of her when she needed him the most. I never want to speak to him again. We have never had the chance to have a funeral and that makes me so angry.’

Mould convinced his neighbours to sign as witnesses after he changed his mother’s will to ensure he inherited her house and estate. But in statements read out during the hearing, they said she ‘quite obviously’ did not realise she was signing a will.

Mould, of Surbiton, Surrey, had been desperately trying to get hold of her assets, the hearing was told. When he realised the will would not withstand scrutiny, he declared her intestate, meaning that she died without executing a valid will.

Mr Wandless, whose wife Muriel died last year after battling cancer, said: ‘Two police officers arrived from Surrey and told me. I was shocked and devastated when I found out. I had contacted social services because I wanted them to go and visit her and make sure she was OK.

‘It’s hard because the Crown Prosecution Service and police decided there was not enough evidence to charge or prosecute him. It’s very difficult and it’s made worse because my wife never got to see justice done.’

Last December, Mould accepted voluntary redundancy from Merton Borough Council’s social services department, where he had worked with the elderly, after they learned of his deceit.

The striking off order imposed on Monday is permanent and makes it illegal for Mould to be employed as a social worker anywhere in the UK.

Mr Wandless said: ‘No one knew about her death. We rang every fortnight to speak to her and that continued until after Christmas 2006 and then that became difficult, I couldn’t speak to her.

‘After a while, my wife spoke to Kenneth in emails and in these he used to say: “Yeah, she’s all right” and “She’s in the garden”. He told us she was still healthy and still alive.

‘We used to ring the house, but could never get any answer and in October or November I rang him at work and I told him I was going to go down to London to see my sister.

‘Kenneth told me she wasn’t at home and she was in Somerset. I said: “That’s fine, I’ll go to London and then to Somerset, I want to see her”.

‘He put the phone down. After Christmas I wrote to social services in Surrey asking them to visit my sister because I was worried about her.

‘Shortly after that, a policeman came to the door and he said: “I’ve got bad  news, your sister’s dead.” I said: “What, she’s just died,” and he said: “No, a year ago.”‘

The ex-wife and the girlfriend of a millionaire estate agent both forged a will in a dispute over his fortune, a court heard yesterday.

Chris John died suddenly at the age of 47, leaving a property portfolio and sports cars – but no will. His girlfriend Gillian Clemo used a forged will to try to ensure she could stay in the luxury home the couple had shared, the jury was told. His former wife Helen John, 48, who had split from her husband ‘acrimoniously’ after his affair with Clemo, then altered that will after discovering that their divorce had never been officially finalised, it was said.

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A hairdresser who inherited £380,000 from two elderly sisters will have to repay the money after a judge ruled that an earlier will leaving the estate to their family was binding.

Eccentric siblings Ethel Willson and Mabel Cook, described as like ‘peas in a pod’, drew up a joint will in 1991 leaving their possessions to their family and friends.

Mrs Cook died aged 83 in 1995, but in 2006 her younger sister dramatically changed the will, just two months before her own death aged 92, leaving all but £10,000 of the estate to their hairdresser Jill Fraser.

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Will Aid has teamed up with Certainty to enable the public to register their Wills during this years Will Aid campaign which runs throughout November.

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Looking seriously at protecting Private Clients? Then look seriously at Certainty because it is ’so much more than just a Will Register’.

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The Certainty National Will Register is the proud sponsor of the forthcoming STEP Autumn Conference. The conference will take place on the 9th October 2009 in London.

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The primary purpose of the Certainty National Will Register is to give each individual member of the public an opportunity to safeguard their most important document and so protect their family from further distress after their death.

This should be an issue of choice which does not rely on everyone else being compelled to do the same. After all, making a choice to ensure traceability of a Will is only relevant to the person who has chosen to register. Importantly the Ministry of Justice has recently confirmed to Certainty that they have no plans to make registration of a Will compulsory, a position acknowledged by most of the legal profession.

However, this does not remove the need to deliver a viable register in order that the public can make the choice to protect themselves. Significantly the Ministry of Justice has given their sanction for a voluntary viable register to offer this choice. In a recent survey 77% of the public questioned said they welcomed and would use a voluntary register and a similar percentage was sceptical about using a government-led initiative.

Certainty meets the need required by the public. Certainty offers a search facility for both registered and unregistered Wills. Therefore even if a client hasn’t registered their Will it can still be searched for after death. In conclusion it should be recognised that compulsory Will registration is highly unlikely in the UK. Certainty has provided a viable voluntary register which works in the best interests of both the public the profession.

Be Safe and use Certainty to register a will on the UK’s National Will Register.