Hypothetical by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 26 February 2021.
John and Paul live with their mother Jude who is a single parent. When John and Paul are still fairly young, their mother meets Sargent Pepper at the lonely-hearts club. Jude eventually marries Sargent and they go on to have two more sons, George and Ringo. Although John and Paul get along famously with George, none of them can stand Ringo.
Decades later, during Jude’s Wake, John and Paul are discussing their affairs. John says to Paul, “I just want you to know, I’ve made a will, if anything happens to me, Ringo gets nothing. Just between you and me, I can’t stand him.”
A few weeks later, whilst John is working on his latest engineering project, building a Yellow Submarine, he is tragically killed in an industrial accident.
Heartbroken, Paul goes and searches John’s house for a will. He finds nothing. He eventually contacts a solicitor to see what can be done. He tells the solicitor what his brother had said to him at the wake.
His solicitor conducts searches but is unable to find a will or anyone, besides Paul, who can verify whether a will actually existed. The solicitor also fruitlessly attempts to find anyone who can verify John’s testamentary intentions. Paul’s solicitor advises him that John’s estate must be administered under the rules of intestacy.
Paul’s solicitor explains that, because John was not in a relationship, never had children and his parents had passed away, the beneficiaries are George, Ringo and himself. With a little help from John’s solicitor, to take proper precautions to execute and store his will, John’s wishes would have been adhered to and Ringo would not have got anything.
If YOU would like a particular issue addressed please email Manny at manny.wood@ticliblaxland.com.au or call him on (02) 6648 7487.
