It is not often that I quote John Lennon but as this blog focuses on the benefits of having your Will drafted by a solicitor, these lyrics felt especially fitting.

Hopefully my previous blog on intestacy has already spurred you into action regarding your Will preparations. As such, I imagine your key consideration is whether you should prepare your Will with a solicitor. While there are many advantages to having your Will drafted by a solicitor, I felt it may be more suitable for us to explore two specific cases in which DIY Wills resulted in significant legal issues.

Ingram and Whitfield v Abraham [2023] EWHC 19821

Joanna Abraham initially executed a Will in 2008 dividing her estate equally between her two children, Henrietta and Tom.

However, in 2019, she created a new Will in which she left her entire estate to her brother, Simon Abraham, and her book collection to his wife Hillary. This 2019 Will left nothing to her children (effectively disinheriting them).

Joanna had asked Simon to prepare this Will for her and he used an online Will kit to do so. Simon claimed that Joanna had given clear instructions to leave her estate to him and her books to Hilary. He asserted that he read the Will to Joanna in simple terms, sent copies via email and post, and delivered a bound version of the Will for her to sign. Simon stated that Joanna had the Will read aloud, read it herself in front of her lodger and retained the signed version.

The Challenge

Henrietta and Tom contested the 2019 Will, citing numerous suspicious circumstances. They presented voice recordings of Joanna made before the 2019 Will, and social media messages from before and after its execution.

The Court’s Ruling

The High Court judge found that Joanna did not understand the effect of the 2019 Will and that Simon, had in fact contributed to that misunderstanding. It was determined that Joanna had intended Simon to receive her estate to distribute it among her children. It was also mentioned that Simon had damaged his credibility through inconsistencies within his evidence, his failure to disclose his own and Joanna’s mobile phones and the questionable reliability of his witnesses regarding Joanna’s reasons for disinheriting her children.

Reeves v Drew and Ors [2022] EWHC 159

Kevin Reeves, a property tycoon with a £100 million empire, created a Will in 2012, leaving his fortune to his descendants, with 80% being left to his three children and 20% to his two grandchildren.

However, following his death, his son, Bill Reeves, discovered a subsequent 2014 Will, leaving only £200,000 of his personal possessions to Bill, with the bulk of the estate going to his sister, Louise Reeves.

The Challenge

Bill claimed that Louise had persuaded their father to sign the 2014 Will, which he neither read nor understood. Bill stated that his relationship with his father was strong and was unchanged so there was no reason for his disinheritance.

Bill also explained that his father had left the school at the age of 12 which meant that he could neither read nor write.

The Court’s Ruling

The judge found Louise Reeves to be manipulative. He stated that there was no evidence that Kevin Reeves had read the 2014 Will by himself, saying, ‘[Louise Reeves] would have known that the deceased would not have been able to read the 2014 Will by himself… I think she was relying on his illiteracy… to make it very unlikely that he would try to read the draft 2014 Will himself.’

Louise reeves could not explain the drastic change in her father’s intentions, raising further suspicion. The judge ruled that the 2014 Will was invalid, reinstating the 2012 Will as the most recent valid Will. Louise Reeves was also ordered to pay her own costs and 70% of Bill Reeves’ costs, totalling approximately £2 million.

The Importance of a Professionally Drafted Valid Will

The key benefit of engaging a professional law firm for your Will is ensuring its validity and that your estate is distributed according to your wishes. This is particularly important if you have unusual or asymmetrical wishes for your estate as those wishes are far more likely to be held credible if advised upon by a professional. This guarantees your aims are achieved efficiently, securing your assets for future generations. These two cases are clear demonstrations of what can happen when a Will is not created by a professional.

If you would like to discuss preparing your Will, please do not hesitate to contact any member of our Wealth Management & Taxation Team.