The Financial Times quotes Sally Ashford on predatory marriage and claims against wills

In a recent case that has brought attention to the UK's legal framework surrounding inheritance and mental capacity, Jill Langley had to fight in court for her inheritance after her father, Robert Harrington, passed away and left his entire £1 million fortune to his new wife, Guixiang Qin, who was 39 years his junior. Harrington had married Qin, his carer, a year before his death, and had rewritten his will two months prior to his passing, leaving nothing to his daughter, the beneficiary of his previous will.

The court ruled in Langley's favour, finding that Qin had exerted undue influence over Harrington, who was deemed vulnerable and lacking the capacity to make a will. Despite this, Qin still received a significant portion of the estate due to the rules of intestacy, which apply when someone dies without a valid will, favouring the surviving spouse.

Langley's case highlights the complexities and potential vulnerabilities in the current legal system, particularly for the elderly. 

Sally Ashford, Partner and Head of UK Private Client, comments for the Financial Times on the challenges posed by the pandemic in ensuring that wills were made without undue influence.

She says:

Covid placed a huge obstacle to ensuring that a testator had capacity and was not being influenced to make a will. It is likely that we will see many more claims against wills which were made during the [pandemic] period.

The Law Commission is considering reforms to address these issues, with proposals expected to be published that may include changes to the automatic revocation of wills by marriage. However, any reforms are unlikely to be retrospective, meaning that disputes from the Covid era would still be resolved under the current laws.

Read the full piece in the Financial Times here (subscription required).