Ask any lawyer and they will tell you that January is notable for two things, relationship breakdowns and death. Yes more (usually elderly) people die in January than at any other time of the year. It may be due to the cold or dark weather but it's a fact. At this time, therefore, people's thoughts turn to Wills.

Question

I am the Executor of a Will. I took the Will apart to photocopy it and am told that the Will is now invalid because it has an extra set of staple holes where I put it together. Is this correct?

Answer

Nothing should ever be attached to a Will and it should never be tampered with. The Probate Registry will probably query the extra set of holes and want to know how they came about. Was it because something else (a Codicil perhaps) was attached to the Will, relating to the contents? You know, but they don't. They will probably want you to swear an Oath stating that the extra set of holes came about in the way that they did and not because anything was attached.

Question

My mother and father split up 18 years ago and although never divorced remain on speaking terms. My mother has recently died and hasn't left a Will. She rented a house but had about 50,000.00 in the building society. What happens to it?

Answer

As your parents are still married then under the Rules of Intestacy your father inherits the whole 50,000.00 (after payment of funeral expenses). I appreciate it may not be what your mother had planned but that is the effect I'm afraid of not writing a Will.

Question

I am 82. I have been approached by an Asset Protection Company who says that by putting my house into a Trust and continuing to live in it, I can avoid it being used to pay for eventual care fees. Is this true?

Answer

I have come across many such schemes but have never come across one that will work. Ask the company if they will 100% guarantee that the value of the house cannot be used for care home fees. Ask them what happens if their guarantee fails. If you transfer assets into a trust or give them away (perhaps to a relative) and the transfer is done to avoid paying care fees then the Local Authority can set the transfer aside. As an aside, all the schemes that I have seen appoint the proprietors of the company as the Trustees which is really not satisfactory. What happens if they die? In addition, the writing of such schemes is neither authorised nor regulated. I suggest that before you do anything, you see a Solicitor.

These questions and answers, although real, are not intended as legal advice. If you have a similar query we suggest you take legal advice.