Michael Tringham explains how intestacies are hitting relicts of second marriages
Intestacy laws continue to cause widows and widowers distress. Fay Copeland, partner in the private client team at Wedlake Bell, says that more than 1,200 bereaved spouses were forced to leave the marital home last year by other family members claiming their inheritance in the absence of a Will.
Ms Copeland points to the “growing complexity of family structures” as a source of many problems. “The rise in the number of divorces followed by a second, sometimes third, marriage means that there is a lot of scope for disputes over inheritance,” she says. “Each spouse may claim a slice of the estate and inheritance claims will become even more complicated where children from different marriages are involved.
“There are now so many parties with competing interests in the deceased’s estate who could potentially feel wronged. Disputes over Wills are a real problem as the costs of any litigation eat into the estate. The likelihood of a dispute becomes even higher if someone
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