Our client was a lady aged 101. She was a widow with no children, and suffered from hearing loss. Currently residing in residential care, she was unable to visit the offices, and therefore a home visit was arranged.
It was apparent from the initial meeting that the Will was not going to be straightforward. Our client was very conscious of all the people she felt should benefit under her Will. However, she was unable to decide what proportion each beneficiary should get as she wished to be fair and consider the requirements of each beneficiary at the time she died, rather than at the time the Will was drafted.
She had, therefore, decided that she wanted to leave everything to her nephews so that they could decide how to apportion the estate upon her death.
The issues surrounding making outright gifts to people were explained to the client, and she was advised that an option available to her was to consider putting her estate into a trust.
Under a trust she would be able to write a letter of wishes to the Trustees, and she could update this as and when required as circumstances altered. This would avoid several potential issues that would have occurred in the event that the estate was given to her nephews absolutely, for them to follow her wishes.
The client died shortly after the Will was executed. She was in constant communication with her nephews up until the date of her death, and they knew exactly what was required with regards to the distribution of the trust, with the assistance of Irwin Mitchell.
Unfortunately, one of the nephews also died prior to the estate being finalised. In the event that he had received half of his aunt's estate absolutely, as the client initially wished, his share would have fallen under the terms of his Will following his death, and would not been distributed in accordance with our clients wishes.