Probate is a complex subject which, with the exception of professionals specialising in this area, is a subject that may only be addressed at a time of need under duress. The explosion of the internet and the digital age helps those searching to deepen their understanding of an unfamiliar topic, assisting the searcher to make informed decisions. The logical first step could therefore be to run a Google search on the topic.

Certainty is on the front line when it comes to assisting those beneficiaries who are bereaved and unable to find a missing or later Will, thus ensuring the necessary and reasonable steps are taken to fulfill the deceased’s last wishes, as outlined in their last Will and Testament.

The full report from Google can be found on the BBC News website here.

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

Gifts in wills form the foundation of charities in the UK. Many depend on these legacies, and without them they simply wouldn’t exist. For example, six out of ten lifeboat launches by the RNLI are only made possible by gifts in wills. And it’s not just the larger charities that benefit from legacies, as over 75% of the costs of caring for the animals at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home are also met by gifts in wills.

Remember A Charity is the biggest single-issue campaign in the voluntary sector, made up of more than 140 member charities. Set up in 2000, the consortium aims to encourage more people to consider leaving a gift to charities in their will, once they’ve looked after their family and friends.

By taking a family first, charity second approach, and by making legacy giving relevant for ordinary people, the campaign has taken great steps forward to change public opinion whilst growing the market. Recent research has proven that an increasing number of people are leaving legacies, as a reported 35% of the UK are now happy to consider leaving a small amount to charity in their will.

The UK legacy market is currently worth more than 25 times the amount raised by Comic Relief every year, but just a 4% change in behaviour would raise a further £1 billion for good causes every year. Our research has shown that there is real potential to grow this market and make legacy giving a social norm, not an exception.

Last year saw the introduction of our very first Remember A Charity Week, designed to raise awareness of legacies. Fronted by Margaret Mountford of The Apprentice, the campaign reached over 21 million people nationwide.

This year, our annual awareness week aims to reach an even wider audience than ever before. Taking place from 13-19 September, it has been billed by organisers as potentially one of the biggest UK cross-charity campaigns.

During the week our member charities will be running their own PR activities, using a selection of branded materials including teabags and ribbon to help promote the campaign. The materials will encourage people to take a moment to think about their favourite charity and what a legacy could do for them. Arthritis Research UK will be branding all their charity shops nationwide, The Children’s Society will be giving away free teabags with purchases in their shops and Guide Dogs will tie yellow ribbon to their dogs’ collars.

This year’s Remember A Charity Week will also include a “Legacies through a Lens” photography exhibition at the Oxo Tower in London. The exhibition will showcase photographs taken by various celebrities including Gordon Ramsay, Dame Judi Dench, Timothy Spall and Alexandra Burke, capturing the work of legacies and the difference they can make to a charity and its beneficiaries.

As a campaign we’ve challenged ourselves with the task of generating mass behaviour change to make leaving gifts in wills a social norm. Our research has shown that at present just 18% of wills written each year include a charitable bequest, despite over 70% of adults in the UK regularly giving money to charity during their lifetime. In order to increase this figure and bring about a change in attitudes towards charitable giving in wills, we need your help.  By asking the right questions at the right time you can make sure that your clients take care of everything that is important to them – family, friends and charities. This way we can all make a difference to the world we leave behind.

Our research has also shown that at present 14% of professional advisers never mention charitable bequests unless prompted by their client, and only 31% always mention charities.  To make leaving gifts in wills the social norm, we need professional advisers like you to raise the idea of legacies with their clients, after they have taken care of their family and friends. By doing this we can help grow the legacy market and really make a difference.

For further information about Remember A Charity or for details on including a charity in your will, please visit www.rememberacharity.org.uk or contact us on 020 7840 1030.

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

Searching for a Will has never been so simple. Certainty’s Will Search service replaces the haphazard system under which a family has to ³guess² which law firm might have custody of a loved one’s Will. All too often Wills are deemed lost or presumed never written and are difficult to trace, near impossible some would say.

Apart from the beneficiaries anguish, not being able to find a Will has detrimental effects on the solicitor who wrote it. They do not get the opportunity to administer the Will and indeed the opportunity to take care of the testators’ beneficiaries.

A consumer survey commissioned by Certainty showed that 67% of people do not know where their parents’ Wills are located. There can be many reasons why a Will cannot be located and therefore is presumed lost or indeed never written. The passage of time, house moves and even malicious destruction are all key factors as to why the Will cannot be found when it is needed. This is extremely unfortunate when in most cases the Will is safely stored in a solicitor’s office somewhere.

Certainty has changed the way the legal profession can search for a Will.

This is due to Certainty’s revolutionary National Will Search service. The Law Society has endorsed Certainty as the exclusive provider of a Will Search service for the legal profession. The Certainty Will Search technology is highly intelligent and took two years to develop. To action a Will search takes just 60 seconds. Most importantly you can activate this search from your desk without the need for software or any IT upgrade giving you immediate access, saving time, effort and cost traditionally associated with generating letters and postal charges.

Indeed a comprehensive National Will Search can be performed in most cases for less than the cost of the postage alone.

The Certainty National Will register can search for a registered or an unregistered Will at the touch of a button.

According to the Law Commission, many tens of thousands of people die intestate each year, causing human and economic costs for large number of families when they are already financially and emotionally vulnerable.

Mark Bradley, Certainty comments: ³Through research it is clear that many solicitors hold Wills where the testator has died but have not had the probate work. Being unaware of which solicitor wrote the Will is inevitable in the absence of an effective Will Search service, Certainty’s Will Search service is changing this situation in an extremely positive way for the profession.

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

It’s a difficult one Should people who are cohabiting have the right to claim the estates of their loved ones when they die in the same way bereaved spouses or civil partners do? The UK Law Commission says yes. But others say that if the cohabitees had meant their partners to have a share of their wealth they would have either got married or written a will. Dig deeper and the argument becomes one about protecting the “specialness” of marriage.

There is an anomaly here, though. The laws on intestacy – what happens when someone dies without a will – date back to the 1920s, a time when cohabitation was, in the eyes of the middle classes, akin to running a brothel. Fortunately, we live in more liberal times, and while I do think that marriage (and civil partnerships) should be encouraged through the tax system, it’s a strange sort of morality that can watch someone who was clearly precious to the deceased go without – and often suffer huge hardship – all for the supposed greater good. If you’re living with someone, think about who is more important in your life – the person you wake up with each morning or some cousin you may see once in a blue moon? Because under intestacy law, it’s your cousin who has a chance of inheriting while your dearest doesn’t.

What’s more, anyone who has had an unmarried partner dangerously ill or die knows that, from the moment they get involved in anything bureaucratic or healthcare-related, their rights are zilch compared with the blood relatives’. For instance, and I speak from personal experience, even if the stricken individual actually had nothing to do with the family, they get to dictate who visits the bedside; the partner is there on sufferance. Put simply, in our society we don’t properly recognise the “specialness” of committing to live together. Amending the intestacy laws would be a start to correcting this.

For me, the best approach would be to allow live-in partners a portion of the estate under reformed intestacy laws, but at the same time encourage far more people to make a will. Turn the whole argument around; say to people, if you don’t want your live-in partner to inherit then make a will. (Although, if you don’t want them to inherit what are you doing with them?)

Generally, people don’t make a will because they are intimidated by the cost, the legal language and their own mortality. More people would be happier making a will if the industry were visibly regulated rather than having the Law Society governing solicitors and no one overlooking the will-writing firms, some of which employ tactics that even dodgy commission salespeople in the financial-services industry would baulk at. Most of this is solvable with a bit of clear thinking, but if you’re living with someone and don’t have a will, why not take advantage of Will Aid month starting today (see page 91) where you can get a will drawn up for a fraction of the normal cost.

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