The law affords testators a high degree of freedom to pass on their estates to whomever they wish, and the fact that the terms of a will may seem unfair to relatives is not enough to successfully challenge it. This point was illustrated by a recent case in which a woman’s great-nephew failed in his challenge to her final will.
The woman had made a will in 1986 leaving her estate to her great-nephew, the son of her niece and her niece’s husband. However, she fell out with his parents in 2019 after they suggested she go into a care home while they were away on holiday. Her niece subsequently arranged a capacity assessment for her. Feeling that her independence was being threatened, she made a new will leaving everything to her nephew and his wife. She died in 2021 at the age of 86, leaving an estate valued at about £400,000.
Her great-nephew challenged the new will on the ground that she lacked capacity, arguing that she had been unable to fully understand what she was doing because she had been suffering from dementia.
The court heard that the woman had had a good relationship with her great-nephew’s parents before they fell out. They had visited her regularly and helped her with shopping. The judge considered that her assessment of them had been unfair, but that did not mean that her decision was irrational. Her great-nephew, who had emigrated to the USA, had not seen her, written to her or spoken to her on the phone for many years. Her nephew and his wife, on the other hand, had visited her frequently and helped her with day-to-day tasks.
Upholding the will’s validity, the court concluded that she had had capacity to make it.