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08 February 2021
Issue: 7920 / Categories: Legal News , Wills & Probate
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Finders International: the missing inheritance

About 11% of British adults have experienced wrongly distributed inheritance, either personally or through a member of their family, research has found
Some 255 of 2,334 adults polled by YouGov had personal or family experience of an inheritance being sent to the wrong recipient, by accident or for some other reason. A further 77 people had a close friend who had experienced this. The research, conducted in January, was commissioned by probate research firm Finders International, which reunites next-of-kin with inheritance they did not know was due when someone dies intestate.

Family feuds were commonplace, with 15% saying they were likely to consider cutting out siblings from their will, 10% disinheriting parents, 5% leaving out their partner and 5% disinheriting their own children.

Three-fifths of adults didn’t have a valid will and three-quarters knew little about the effect of dying intestate. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused one quarter more British adults to consider making a will in the past year than in previous years.

The survey also highlighted how families have become increasingly international.

Geoffrey Odds, chair of the International Association of Professional Probate Researchers, said: ‘From an international perspective, this research went on to uncover that more than a quarter of younger adults had at least one foreign born grandparent, compared to just 10% per cent of over-50s. 

‘This is a consequence of post-World War Two immigration, and ease of travel and transport over the past seven decades.’

Issue: 7920 / Categories: Legal News , Wills & Probate
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Bell Yard Kysen—Liz Giles

Bell Yard Kysen—Liz Giles

Bell Yard Kysen appoints senior legal PR and ex-government communications adviser, Liz Giles

Clarke Willmott—Lee Edwards

Clarke Willmott—Lee Edwards

Clarke Willmott boosts Southampton commercial property team with addition of partner Lee Edwards

Lime Solicitors—four promotions

Lime Solicitors—four promotions

Lime Solicitors announces four promotions

NEWS
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Witness evidence can be compromised by AI before a solicitor sees the draft, leaving safeguards focused on authorship incomplete
Should a conviction stand when a later ruling reveals that the law underpinning it was wrong? The answer exposes a clash between finality and justice
Possession claims are entering a new digital era, with procedural traps awaiting practitioners who assume familiar rules still govern every step
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