“All for mother”
That was the shortest English Will and also a classic example of the need to draft a clear and unambiguous Last Will and Testament.
The above Will resulted in a dispute Thorn v. Dickens [1906] W.N. 54 because at the time the will was written the testator’s mother was already dead. However evidence was presented to show that he was in the habit of calling his wife “mother” and the Will was admitted to probate.
Had the testator’s actual mother been living at the time, then his estate would have gone to her and not his wife regardless of the evidence.
The Longest Will
The longest proven Will belonged to Mrs Frederica Evelyn Stilwell Cook in November 1925.
Her Will contained 95,940 words in four bound volumes!
The Right Will For You
At MB Estate Planning we understand the need to create a clear and unambiguous Will that ensures your wishes are carried out corrently and that your estate is inherited by your chosen heirs.
We do not sell boilerplate Wills.
We individually craft every Will to ensure that your exact wishes are recorded.
From simple mirror Wills for married couples to complex Wills with multiple trusts and detailed gifts – we can write it for you.
Our Process
The process begins with building a picture of your estate and estimating the value of your assets.
We then consider the list of people who should inherit and perhaps a list of those who should not inherit, what gifts or shares are to go to each and on what conditions.
Your liability for Inheritance Tax is considered and options for minimising the amount of tax are explored if required.
At this point the complexity of your Will can be estimated and a firm fixed price will be quoted to draft the required documents.
If you are happy with the proposed solutions and price we then agree tems of business and issue an invoice for the order.
Once drafted, Wills are then checked by an external compliance auditor to ensure correctness and legal validity.
A draft Will is produced and once you are happy with the wording we then proceed to production of a finished bound will for attestation.
We will supervise attestation of your Will to make sure that it is correctly signed and witnessed.
Finally we offer secure storage for your signed Will to make sure that when the need arises it is safe and undamaged.
Our attention to detail arises from our belief that no matter the size of your estate, from the largest to the smallest, everyone deserves a professionally drafted Will.
Get in touch today to book a free consultation.