Invalid Will?

oshoshitzu

The name on a parent’s will is misspelt (one letter). Does this invalidate or if not invalidate cause problems when applying for probate? The will has a previous address of the deceased written on it?


There is no spouse and two surviving children. The will splits the estate equally between the two children.

Would it be easier and legal to just say on the probate form that there is no will and inherit the estate under the rules of intestacy which would distribute the estate equally between the two children: the same as the will?

The will was drawn up at a solicitors

Margot123

This is not unusual, so I would stick with the original will. 'Slip of pen' errors happen all the time with legal documents, and people move house over the years too. Also, you might even be in contempt of Probate Court if you were to say no will existed when you have openly admitted it on here and perhaps elsewhere.

Yorkshireman99

oshoshitzu wrote: »

The name on a parent’s will is misspelt (one letter). Does this invalidate or if not invalidate cause problems when applying for probate? The will has a previous address of the deceased written on it?


There is no spouse and two surviving children. The will splits the estate equally between the two children.

Would it be easier and legal to just say on the probate form that there is no will and inherit the estate under the rules of intestacy which would distribute the estate equally between the two children: the same as the will?

The will was drawn up at a solicitors

Legally it would be wrong to supress the will but who will know? Your choice really.

Mojisola

oshoshitzu wrote: »

The name on a parent’s will is misspelt (one letter). Does this invalidate or if not invalidate cause problems when applying for probate? The will has a previous address of the deceased written on it?

There is no spouse and two surviving children. The will splits the estate equally between the two children.

Would it be easier and legal to just say on the probate form that there is no will and inherit the estate under the rules of intestacy which would distribute the estate equally between the two children: the same as the will?

The will was drawn up at a solicitors

It would be easier to present the will you've got.

If it's questioned (and it may not be) because of the spelling mistake in the name, you can get the solicitor to confirm that that the will you've presented is the one they made for the named client and that the misspelt name is their mistake.

Margot123

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

Legally it would be wrong to supress the will but who will know? Your choice really.

So, what you are telling the OP is that they are legally obliged not to suppress the original will, and yet at the same time telling them it doesn't matter? Sorry but that is really bad advice.
You also ask 'but who will know?. Actually countless people (us included), and quite possibly someone connected with the OP as this is an open forum.
Lying about legal documents can land someone in a right mess, especially when there is evidence to support the fact a will existed in the first place.

Yorkshireman99

Margot123 wrote: »

So, what you are telling the OP is that they are legally obliged not to suppress the original will, and yet at the same time telling them it doesn't matter? Sorry but that is really bad advice.
You also ask 'but who will know?. Actually countless people (us included), and quite possibly someone connected with the OP as this is an open forum.
Lying about legal documents can land someone in a right mess, especially when there is evidence to support the fact a will existed in the first place.

That is not what I said! I said that it was their choice. Of course they should not supress it but what are the real world consequences if they do? Readers of this forum don't know who the OP is and if the OP does as they suggest nobody will be worse off. Doing it by the book will cost quite a lot and in practice will achieve nothing. It is for the OP to choose.

SevenOfNine

Margot123 wrote: »

So, what you are telling the OP is that they are legally obliged not to suppress the original will, and yet at the same time telling them it doesn't matter? Sorry but that is really bad advice.
You also ask 'but who will know?. Actually countless people (us included), and quite possibly someone connected with the OP as this is an open forum.
Lying about legal documents can land someone in a right mess, especially when there is evidence to support the fact a will existed in the first place.

Goodness, that's a big leap & overreaction from what was actually said :eek: ..........& the post has been unnecessarily deleted by the looks of things!

"Legally it would be wrong to supress the will but who will know? Your choice really.

Though I agree Margot123 that countless people 'will know' - not a single one of them will be able to identify the OP, this is not a unique scenario on this forum, we've had similar many times, so 'they' will 'know' what exactly? That 'someone' out there in this big wide world of bereavement is asking questions about suppressing a Will, no more than that.

YM99 summed it up succinctly for OP "your choice really". OP hasn't been told it doesn't matter.

Blimey!

Margot123

Agreed, it is up to the OP whether they want to take a legal gamble or go with the simple process.

Yorkshireman99

Unfortunately the process may not be simple, or inexpensive. The OP could easily run up a large legal bill doing it by the book. My inclination would be forbthe OP to ask a solicitor exactly what is involved and what they would charge.

Linton

Any will could have minor errors in it or could be out of date because of change of address or name. ISTM It would only matter if someone challenged the will in court and the judge decided that the errors made the meaning unclear. In this case there would appear to be no-one likely to challenge the will and the meaning is still clear. So I wouldn't worry about it.

Claiming that a will doesn't exist when you know it does seems a far more serious matter.

Yorkshireman99

Linton wrote: »

Any will could have minor errors in it or could be out of date because of change of address or name. ISTM It would only matter if someone challenged the will in court and the judge decided that the errors made the meaning unclear. In this case there would appear to be no-one likely to challenge the will and the meaning is still clear. So I wouldn't worry about it.

Claiming that a will doesn't exist when you know it does seems a far more serious matter.

Change of address is not regarded as an error. The crucial point is that the testator is positively identified. The reason it can be a problem for the executor(s) is when they try to gather in estate assets and the name on the will differs from the one on a bank account for instance.