Any true fan of Taylor Swift will have spotted in the lyrics of her song, Anti-hero, a reference to a probate issue. For those not familiar with Taylor’s lyrics (the writer included), the relevant section is below:
“I have this dream my daughter-in-law kills me for the money
She thinks I left them in the Will
The family gathers ’round and reads it
And then someone screams out
“She’s laughing up at us from hell!”
Clearly, the lyric is directed at a scenario where the daughter-in-law wrongly believed that there had been something left to her or the son in the Will. If such a scenario arose in England and Wales, two thoughts spring to mind:
- What would happen in such a scenario if the daughter-in-law had been left something in the Will but had murdered the testator; and
- If the son was left out of the Will, what steps could he take to secure some of the estate for his benefit.
What would happen if a beneficiary had been left something in a Will but had murdered the testator?
The Forfeiture Act 1982 sets out modifications to the forfeiture rule, which is the rule against a person benefitting from the unlawful killing of another. Accordingly, if the daughter-in-law was found to have murdered Taylor, she would have been precluded from benefitting under any Will in any event.
Whilst section 2 of the Act does allow the Court to modify the forfeiture rule or exclude it altogether in favour of allowing someone to inherit from someone that they had killed, a Judge is unlikely to exercise their discretion in this regard in favour of someone that has intentionally murdered the testator to inherit some of their estate immediately. A scenario where the Courts have exercised their discretion in this regard can be seen here.
If a son or daughter was left out of a Will, what steps could he/she take to secure some of the estate for his/her benefit?
With reference to Taylor’s lyrics, if there was no previous Will or a Will that left some of the estate to the son, the son could, in certain circumstances, apply to declare the most recent Will invalid. Areas to consider when applying to set aside a Will are:
- Whether the testator had testamentary capacity;
- Undue Influence (also detailed in the first link above); and/or
- Lack of knowledge and approval.
In the absence of being able to successfully challenge the Will, the son could make an application pursuant to the Inheritance (Provision for family and dependents) Act 1975 (1975 Act) for reasonable financial provision to be made out of the estate. As shown in this blog, the effect of conduct and considering what had happened in the past is discussed. In a scenario such as set out by Taylor Swift, this is going to form a significant weakness for the son as section 3 of the 1975 Act requires any Judge considering a claim for reasonable financial provision to take into account ‘any other matter, including the conduct of the applicant or any other person, which in the circumstances of the case the Court may consider relevant’.
Clearly, a Judge will be troubled if the applicant’s wife had murdered the testator, especially if the son and the daughter-in-law were still in a relationship together.
How can we help
Kevin Modiri is a Partner in our expert Dispute Resolution team.
If you have any questions concerning the subjects discussed in this article, please do not hesitate to contact Kevin or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester, or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.
Contact us