A recent court battle over inheritance between five siblings provides a cautionary tale on the importance of leaving a Will to determine how you would like your estate to be distributed after your death.
Michael Gymer died in December 2020. His wife, Julie, with whom he had three adult children, had predeceased him just six months before. Shortly after their father's death, his three children became aware that Michael had been conducting an affair for several decades with a woman named Beverley, with whom he shared two more adult children.
The central issue, from an inheritance perspective, was that neither Julie nor Michael had made a Will. Under the intestacy rules, which apply where a person dies without a Will, a surviving spouse or civil partner will receive the first £322,000 (formerly £270,000) of the person's estate, with any remainder being divided equally between the spouse and any surviving children.
Accordingly, Julie's £170,000 estate all fell within the statutory legacy, and was inherited in its entirety by Michael. On Michael's subsequent death, his £460,000 estate, which by then included Julie's assets, was divided equally between his five biological children in accordance with the intestacy rules – despite the fact that Julie and her three children had not known of his other children's existence.
Michael and Julie's three children subsequently applied to the court under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975, arguing that it was unfair for their mother's estate to be shared with two people she had known nothing about, and asking for a variation to the default intestacy position in order to produce a fairer result. Recorder Jonathan Cohen KC ultimately agreed with them, ruling that two of Julie's sons should receive a third each of Michael's overall estate, with Julie's daughter and Michael's other two children receiving equal shares of the final third. He agreed that the default intestacy position did indeed produce an unfair result in the circumstances, but amended the distribution on the basis that that Julie's sons had a greater financial need than their sister or half-siblings, and accordingly should receive a greater share.
Whilst the facts of this case are undoubtedly unusual, the central point is that the absence of Wills in this case meant that neither Julie nor Michael could control who inherited their assets after their deaths. Given that she knew nothing of Michael's other family, Julie might well have elected to leave her estate to Michael anyway, even if she had made a Will. Michael, however, could have elected to preserve Julie's estate (as inherited by him) for her own children, and made separate provision for his second family. This would undoubtedly have been a fairer outcome.
Also of note is the fact that Michael's other partner, Beverley, received nothing from his estate, because she was not married to him at the time of his death. Under the intestacy rules, no provision whatsoever is made for surviving partners who are not married or in a civil partnership at the time of the first partner's death, even where the relationship is of significant length or the couple share children. In circumstances where an unmarried partner was financially dependent on the deceased, this can cause enormous difficulty. Often, the only option is to apply to the court for financial provision under the 1975 Act – a route which is costly and highly uncertain.
The conclusion? Firstly, that making a Will is undoubtedly the best way to protect your assets and your loved ones after your death. It is essential to be aware of how the intestacy rules will operate to distribute your estate in the event that you die without a Will, and to take steps to put a Will in place if the rules don't accord with your wishes. Secondly, the case does provide some reassurance that, if the unexpected happens, solutions may be available through the courts to try and redress the balance.
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