‘If you save the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves’ or so the saying goes, but this is not inevitable, as a very recent Court of Appeal case over a will has proved. The judge went out of his way to say “Ideally ... (the parties)...should have gone to solicitors … Instead an untidy situation has arisen, which has unfortunately aggravated existing ill-feeling within a family and has cost a great deal of money to sort out.”
The case itself, which related to whether or not there had been an oral agreement to make mutual wills, is not of particular importance to most wills but it does yet again emphasise the fact that making a will is not a routine matter and taking a cheap shortcut to producing one or not having made one at all can be a seriously false economy. The purpose of a will is to give you the peace of mind of knowing that your affairs are in order – in the inevitable event of your death. As the old adage goes “making a will won’t kill you”.
One can argue that having any will is better than none, and there is some sense in this as the alternative of dying without a will can certainly produce some very undesirable outcomes for a family. However, having an inappropriate or inadequate will comes a close second behind not having one at all.
A cynic will say that the above is scare tactics to drum up work for solicitors, but I can assure readers that this is not so.
I work as a mediator and regularly deal with the aftermath of badly-organised inheritance arrangements, very often at the heart of which is either no will, or a badly-drafted or ill-conceived will. Families are delicate structures at the best of times with plenty of scope for disputes and stress. Add money, the wrong or no will and the added stress caused by someone dying and there is an incendiary mixture just waiting for a spark to produce a very expensive and relationship-destroying conflict. A well-considered and properly-drafted will should help avoid this risk.
As Christmas is over and this is the time for New Year resolutions, may I suggest you include:
- Making a will, if you don’t have one that is relevant to your current circumstances (consider family and business changes since you made your last will, if one already exists).
- Making it properly with competent advice, and don’t cut corners by trying to do it on the cheap.
- If you have the misfortune to be drawn into a contested inheritance dispute think about using mediation to sort it out sooner rather than later. You could resolve matters relatively quickly and help retain or repair family differences which are otherwise at risk.
In any event, Happy New Year to readers of this article!
Christopher Butterworth is managing partner at Raworths LLP. He is a CEDR Accredited Mediator, a member of the Court of Appeal mediation panel, a member of the Law Society's specialist Civil/Commercial Mediation panel and a member of the mediation panel of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
To contact Raworths, telephone 01423 566666 or visit our offices at Eton House, 89 Station Parade, Harrogate HG1 1HF. Alternatively you can email Christopher at christopher.butterworth@raworths.co.uk
