In 1977 two very important events took place, the Queen celebrated her Silver Jubilee and David’s grandfather wrote his Will. 16 years ago David’s grandfather died intestate. However David has never given up his quest to find his grandfather’s Will. David comments, “Finding the Will was never about the money. This was all about being able to fill a gap in my knowledge about my Grandad and about who I was and where I came from. With it we could draw a line in the sand. It also helped my brother complete the family tree he’d been working on.”

Faced with a problem his memory couldn’t help him resolve and keen to bring closure to an emotionally trying experience, David contacted certainty.co.uk. He was sceptical about the chances of finding the Will because his grandfather had died 16 years ago. But this scepticism swiftly turned into optimism and hope.

The Certainty search team first checked the Certainty national Will register. This initial search quickly found that David’s grandfather’s Will was not registered. Certainty then performed a ‘Will Search Cover’ which uses cutting-edge technology to connect solicitors around the country and issues a ‘missing wills notification’. Within a very short time, Certainty unearthed the missing Will. David continues, “I thought this was so exciting; really magical. Lo and behold this Will had been in the solicitor’s office for 34 years. Then, suddenly there it was – a piece of my history”.

“This sort of Will search service can be life-changing. It takes something that’s a dry intellectual pursuit and turns it into a human, emotional experience.” Nigel McGinnity, co-founder of Certainty, added: “Sadly, David’s story is all too common. There are many cases of Wills that haven’t been registered and can’t be found. We know this is a big problem
and that’s why Certainty exists.”

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

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.”‘

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.

The alleged fraud and counter fraud began after Mr John, who once sold a property to singer Charlotte Church, died of a brain haemorrhage. There was no sign of a will deciding how his estate should be divided. Clemo, 57, is said to have wanted Mr John’s sisters to be appointed as executors, so she would be allowed to continue living in the Cardiff house. John Philpotts, prosecuting, told Newport Crown Court: ‘When no will was discovered there developed a dispute as to who should administrate the estate. On the one hand were the two sisters and on the other hand Helen John. No agreement could be reached.’

The situation took a ‘dramatic turn’ when it was found that no decree absolute to the divorce had been lodged with the courts, even though proceedings had begun in 2001. Mr Philpotts said this meant that technically Mrs John was still married to her husband, and had a legal claim to his fortune. ‘Mrs Clemo collapsed on the floor on hearing the news,’ he said.

Three days later, however, Clemo claimed she had found a will naming Mr John’s sister Melissa Fenton as the executor and the guardian of his 13-year-old daughter. Mr Philpotts said: ‘Mrs Clemo used that document, which we say was a forgery, to try to bring about the appointment of Melissa as executor of the estate. She administered the estate and some property was sold. ‘Mrs Clemo wanted the sisters to be executors so she would be allowed to stay in the house.’

The court heard Clemo then swore an affidavit that the will, which left the estate to Mr John’s daughter when she reached 27, was real and that she had witnessed it. But Mr Philpotts said handwriting experts decided it was not Mr John who had signed the will. ‘In addition there was the fact that Mr John’s daughter’s name was spelled wrongly,’ he said. Talking about the will, Mrs John told the court: ‘I was shown a copy. It was on A4 white paper with a couple of lines written on it. It immediately struck me that it didn’t look like my husband’s signature.’

Mrs John admitted forging a modification to the will, although details were not given in court. She said she had been worried about her daughter’s inheritance, said to be worth millions. The jury heard she had been given a formal caution by police instead of being taken to court. Clemo denies using a forged will under the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act. The trial continues.

Source: The Daily Mail 15th November 2010

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.

Now a High Court judge has ruled that because the sisters had a mutual agreement before Mrs Cook died, the original will should be honoured.

The mutual wills drawn up in 1991 carved up the childless sisters’ wealth between 15 of their closest family, godchildren and friends, not including Mrs Fraser, pictured.

Under the revised will in September 2006, Mrs Fraser inherited all of the estate, save for a £10,000 legacy bequeathed to Mrs Willson’s carer.

Although frail, former legal secretary Mrs Willson was judged to have had the mental capacity to make a valid will at the time.

The sisters’ family and friends, who would have been left with nothing, mounted a costly legal battle against Mrs Fraser, arguing that the first will should stand.

The sisters set up home together in Stoneleigh, near Epsom, Surrey, in the late 1980s after both lost their husbands in the 1970s.

The hairdresser claimed she was entitled to the legacy because she was the only person to visit Mrs Willson in her dying days in hospital. But the family accused her of failing to inform them that she had been admitted to hospital. Yesterday, at the London hearing, Judge Jonathan Gaunt, QC, ruled that the ‘mirror wills’ the sisters signed in 1991 remained binding even after Mrs Cook’s death. It is one of only a small handful of cases in which the ‘doctrine of mutual wills’ has been applied.

The ruling means travelling hairdresser Mrs Fraser, 72, will now have to pay back what she can in cash and a charge will be put against her home, which she bought for £362,500 in July last year, using some of the legacy, for the balance.

Referring to the sisters’ family and friends, many of whom live in Malvern, Worcestershire, who will now inherit the money as ‘very kind, decent people’, the judge said that they have no plans to enforce the charge over Mrs Fraser’s home while she still lives there. He added that he was ‘very pleased’ to hear that the 1991 beneficiaries have no intention of trying to claw back the £10,000 legacy to Mrs Willson’s carer, who was ‘ particularly good to her’.

Source – Daily Mail 13th August 2010

Will Aid is endorsed by the Probate Section of the Law Society who encourage their members to participate.

Will Aid is one of the most effective fundraising campaigns and depends on a unique partnership with the legal profession. Will Aid would like more solicitors to join to meet the demand from Will makers. To register as a Will Aid solicitor and take part in this years campaign log on to www.willaid.org.uk/solicitors

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

Importantly, private client retention and development has been cleverly integrated into Certainty. This ensures Certainty is a powerful and vital resource for firms to help protect and increase private client work.

With the legal landscape changing daily and at a pace, Certainty’s success is testimony to the tangible benefits that are being realised by Private Client teams all over the UK everyday.

To find out more please contact Certainty on 0845 408 0404 or email solicitors@certainty.co.uk.
Be Safe and use Certainty to register your will on the UK’s National Will Register.

Certainty has been touring the country meeting Wills & Probate solicitors and STEP members at various legal conferences. At these conferences Certainty provides a brief overview of Will Search and Will Registration and the innovative Will management and marketing system ‘TOUCH’. If you are attending the forthcoming STEP conference then please do not hesitate to visit the Certainty stand for this brief and very valuable overview.

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

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.

But what about the many “tens of thousands of people” who die intestate each year? The Law Commission quote this figure as background to their current review of the law of intestacy. They add: “National Consumer Council research suggests that more than 27 million adults in England and Wales do not have a Will and that those who need one most are the least likely to have one…nearly one quarter of 55 to 64 year-olds have personal experience of the human and economic costs associated with intestacy or know someone who has.

“The problems caused range from inconvenience, to serious hardship or distress. Equally, applications under the family provision legislation can be expensive, and damaging to family relationships.”

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