Question on wills

L

Lyndan

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Hey All

I had a couple of questions on a 'will' that i wanted to ask.

If someone writes a will and its left with a solicitor what does this mean? You dont have to leave your will with a solicitor, so what role does he play if you die? Will he take a percentage of your estate in payment?

If there are 7 kids in a family all being left something or other, but 1 child has been left out - is he able to contest the will? This 1 child has only been left out accidentally and is actually listed as the executer on the will. Years later a letter was written by the owner of the will saying she had forgotten him and leaving him some items - this letter is not with the will, but in the house she is living (signed and witnessed)

I think thats it! Any help would be appreciated,

Cheers
 
why not the person that made the will go back to the solicitor to amend it to include the missing child. Better being safe than being sorry.
Will can be contested by children - check [broken link removed] for more details
 
thanks for that i checked Oasis,

Does anyone know if the will is with the solicitor when the person dies what does he do, does he take a percentage or is he just keeping it safe?

Cheers
Lynn
 
If a copy of a will is left with a solicitor then they may or may not charge for this service. There is nothing to say that that solicitor will be the one that will actually process the will and thus need to be paid for probate services rendered. I think it's up to the executor to decide on the best way to deal with the will.
 
The will is usually left with the solicitor who prepares the Will for security reasons. Most solicitors have a fire-proof Wills safe. The client is entitled to take their Will and not leave it with the solicitors, the danger is that it could get lost if it is not left in another secure location, which will be easily identifiable after the client dies.
 
a solicitor may correct me on this, but the will, as it is when the person dies, stands. If someone got left out and they are over 18, tough. The other inheritors can of course split what they got to give a share to the person omitted.
 
There may also be a chance that the letter if in the correct form could be taken to be a codicil to the will thus including the child named. I'd imagine however that the letter would have to be clearly worded and probably witnessed in the same manner as a will would have been.
 
It must also be noted that a child of a deceased has a very short period to bring an action under S.117 of the 1965 Act - only 6 months! I really think that if the testator/testatrix is still alive that they should include the other child in a codicil on the original will.
 
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