Question about an specific bank account mentioned in a Will

[Spamar]

I know someone who was left a farm in his fathers will. Unfortunately the farm had been sold several years before the donor died. In spite of his solicitor telling him several times that the person would get nothing, the will went unchanged and he inherited nothing. No cash to make up for no farm!
I will add dementia was involved here!

 

[nicoise]

Yes, it is perfectly possible for an attorney acting under LPA/POA to "tweak" the assets so that they potentially improve their own lot as a beneficiary at the expense of another, should they know the contents of the will. But that is an extreme case, and requires a dishonest attorney, which the vast amount aren't, despite what we occasionally read here on the forum!

It is also possible for a Deed of Variation to be made, with the agreement of the potentially disadvantaged beneficiaries, to make adjustments to the distribution of a will in order to put a situation such as being left out of a will (in this instance, where the asset no longer exists) right:

https://www.gov.uk/alter-a-will-after-a-death

However, if the Rembrandt has been sold, or the diamond ring has disappeared, or the ISA account closed, it really does not exist any longer as a bequest - unless in extremis it can be proven that the act was carried out deliberately to disinherit a beneficiary, using our example of a dishonest attorney.

 

[Chemmy]

Rereading all of this, nitram makes a good point in post#2. The exact wording will be important. If the 'proceeds' of the bequest are still separate and traceable to the new account, that may be a viewed differently to the money being taken out of the ISA to be used for care costs etc.

He's right on the second point too - you need professional advice, not our well-meaning guesswork, otherwise you could all end up with a legal bill if the other person decided to contest.

It's a pity that, as attorneys, you know what's in the will. It makes decisions harder.

 

[JMA11]

Thank you everyone. The same scenarios have been going round in my mind too. Our mum is around mid way in her dementia journey. She lives at home and my brother and his family live with her. We also have carers twice a day.

It may be that at some point a CH will have to be considered, so the clause in the will may never come into play. Only time will tell.


Sent from my iPhone using Talking Point

 

[Chemmy]

If your brother and family are living in her home, which she owns, then there are implications there if your mother needs to go into care at some point. Forward planning on potentially contentious issues such as these is sensible, as we have seen some spectacular family fallouts on TP in the past.

 

[pipd]

Complicated

In 2007 my sisters Godmother passed away, in her will she had left her house (or wherever she resided at the time of her death) to my sister and everything else to me. The house had been sold a few years prior to her death and the proceeds invested into some kind of policy to pay for her care home fees. When the will was read to us my sisters bequest 'failed' due to the fact that the house no longer existed so I became the sole beneficiary of the will. That was it...no house...no bequest.

Just to clarify in case any of you think how unfair of me to take everything when we both knew my my sisters godmother intended for her to have the bulk of the estate....we agreed between us to have a 'deed of variation' drawn up and my sister got 75% of the estate and myself 25%.
I found it strange that a solicitor would allow a will to be drawn up in that way in the first place, not allowing for a huge change of circumstances in the future. A lesson to regularly update you will.

 

[relliot2014]

Specific gift

If you mention a piece of property/bank account by name/account number it is called a "specific gift" . Only *that* thing can pass through the terms of the Will, not what it goes on to become (ie money held in another account) put simply, when the Will comes into effect on the death of the Testator, if the bank account no longer exist, that gift will fail. That clause in the Will will simply not take effect. It is for this reason that many professionals try to keep the wording of Wills less specific as people do change their assets over time and most people don't know to update their Will accordingly when they do!

 

[Jessbow]

If you mention a piece of property/bank account by name/account number it is called a "specific gift" . Only *that* thing can pass through the terms of the Will, not what it goes on to become (ie money held in another account) put simply, when the Will comes into effect on the death of the Testator, if the bank account no longer exist, that gift will fail. That clause in the Will will simply not take effect. It is for this reason that many professionals try to keep the wording of Wills less specific as people do change their assets over time and most people don't know to update their Will accordingly when they do!

Will says procedes of acc 1234567

Doesn't that take the funds forward?

 

[relliot2014]

No, it doesn't. Only that account number itself. Truly. X

 

[relliot2014]

You Could potentially honour the Will if you and the beneficiaries and executors were all in agreement. Then you could do a Deed of Variation to change the gift so that the intended beneficiary of that account number receives instead a general pecuniary legacy from the residuary estate (what's left after debts, funeral and expenses have been paid). But every person has to agree for that to happen. That happens after the death though. Hope this helps x