Will Mediation

Our client's husband of some twenty years died.  By his will he left her £100,000 absolutely, left a sum of money on trust to be used for the benefit of our client and the deceased's adult sons of his first marriage at the discretion of trustees and left the balance of his estate to the sons.  The main asset of the estate was the farm which had provided the deceased and our client with their main income for many years.  The couple's matrimonial home was a bungalow in close proximity to the farm which had already been transferred to our client's outright ownership.  The adult sons wished to live at the farm and farm it themselves and our client was extremely anxious to move away from the farm and purchase an alternative property to live in.

A mediation of our client's claim for financial provision under the provisions of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 took place.  Although a final settlement was not reached on the day, the mediation was the occasion on which the sons realised that our client's claim was justified and realised that in order to provide for our client they would have to raise money by mortgaging the farm.  It was therefore possible for a settlement to be reached soon afterwards whereby the absolute provision for our client was increased significantly from the £100,000 left by the will in order to meet our client's need for income and our client was able to move away from the former matrimonial home and the farm.

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