General Chat

Do you know of anyone that donated their entire estate to charity, ie house and contents and was it contested successfully?

An e,Derry neighbour left everything to various animal charites, his one distant relative had no interest in him and didn’t contest.

Have you tried asking Google for stories.

Not me, ZZzzz, but many years ago I knew of one old lady whose will caused upset to her two remaining family members. (I can’t remember but I think they were her children.). The lady had done her will many years before she died and she lived to a ripe old age. The will mentioned actual amounts to two charities and the remainder to be divided between the two family members. By the time of her death, once the amounts were deducted there was barely a sausage left to the two of them so the family’s solicitor contacted the two charities and explained the situation.

I was working for the smaller charity at the time and our Committee thought as one without hesitation and told the Solicitor it would forfeit the legacy. But the massive National, well-known charity dragged its feet for a lot longer than necessary. Eventually, after a little consternation by all concerned, our Treasurer rang someone at the huge national charity and only then did that charity see the original intent behind the will and agree to forfeit too. To say we were all aghast at that behaviour from a huge charity would be an understatement!

OH was executor for an elderly friend who owned a house plus a bit more, and had no family left. He left specific legacies to some friends then the remainder to one favourite charity. After he died, the specific legacies couldn't be fulfilled as the amounts weren't enough. I'm not sure how they got round that. Then the house had to be sold, the charity kept turning down the offers as too little but refused to take on the house themselves. OH had to spend his friend's money having extra insurance, security, etc so the charity lost that. It was all sorted eventually.

If you want to leave money to a charity a solicitor can give the best advice, I believe that some charities can be ruthless in their demands and expectations.

I don’t think you should ever leave specific amounts as that can lead to such problems, especially where charities are concerned. Always better to leave percentages then everyone gets their fair share.

names is correct ............ 2 of the lawyers who have written wills for us over the years have recommended something like percentages or parts of what you hope the estate will be.

The latest one suggested parts ............... eg, dividing the estate into 10 or 20 parts, and then leaving 1 part here, 3 parts there, etc.

Both methods result in the actual amount of money in the estate being divided among people and/or charities rather than the expected when definite specified amounts of money st6ated.

I can recall my father, who was Executor of my gt aunts Will, back in 60s having problems with one particular charity. They were insistent on seeing the Wills accounts to ensure they were getting their rightful share. I know my father found their attitude somewhat harsh as all they were worried about was the money not the person that had died! Knowing my gt aunt, she would have been horrified to have seen the way my father was treated! My gt aunt was not a wealthy person but I think the charity concerned thought they should have had or got more money from the Estate.

My father was vindicated and vowed never to have anything to do with that charity ever again :-|

I think your father was lucky to be vindicated. These charities are able to pay for very expensive lawyers to fight their corners.

Many years ago, I knew of a man that was made an orphan during the war. This family took him in and adopted him. There was already a brother the same age and a younger sister.
As time passed the brother & sister married and had children and latterly grandchildren.
The adopted child said to his brother(never married), if i die before you, dont worry, Ill see you right for taking good care of me all my life, its all in my will.

He didnt own a property but lived in a rented house all his adult life, had a good job and was very tight with his money.

The man died and his brother went to the house to sort out things and the will. he was shocked to read, the adoptive brother left £10,000 to the first 2 grandchildren and the rest some £80,000 to a cats charity. He left nothing to his brother or to the other 2 grandchildren.

He went to a solicitor for some advice but was told, unless you have the money to contest the will, dont bother. be glad your children received something for when they are older.
In the end, the remaining brother and sister didnt contest the will and the charity got most of his money.

Just goes to show that at the end of the day, people do the most peculiar things when it comes to wills.

Like Belle’s Dad, I would never donate to the particular charity I wrote about earlier.

I know someone who, many moons ago, worked for another huge charity based in London and He warned me never to give anything to them, letting me know why he told me that. That is the other charity I would not give to either.

Also, I am wary of what he called charity hoppers - the highly-paid execs who, while they are working for one charity, easily switch their allegiance for higher salaries, gold cards, first-class travel and a whole raft of other perks.

Like the elderly lady who had been a member of her local Church for all her life. When she died she left nothing to the Church and everything to the Donkey Sanctuary.

Someone we knew who didn't have any family left her estate to be divided equally between several charities. I believe the executor was her solicitor and he duly put the house on the market. There were a number of offers but each time the buyer dropped out because the charities couldn't agree amongst themselves whether to accept the offer or not. It went on for 2 or 3 years during which time the solicitor had to keep the place maintained, pay insurance etc. Eventually they had to agree to an offer in order to get anything and ended up with less than they would have got if they could have agreed on the first, higher, offer.

I agree with the idea of leaving percentages or proportions of your estate to different people. We have done our wills like this for years.

Getting back to the original question, you can leave your estate to whoever you like. It is nobody's business what you decide to do with your property. The will could be contested but it is an expensive and long drawn out business and unlikely to be successful unless the person contesting can show the will writer wasn't mentally capable, or was unduly influenced or that he/she was already in a dependent relationship with the deceased person.

I have named 3 people as not to gain anything from my will and have named the charity that I wish to get everything.

Looks like you’ve got it covered. Assume you used a solicitor who went through this decision with you.

It's not an answer to the query, but a gentle reminder that whoever and whatever you put in a will, do make sure that if circumstances ( or relationships) change that you change the will.

This on the back of my recently trying to find out if someone has made one, and if they have whether they made it before or after their husband died. Also a recent death where a friend of the deceased would like some mementoes, of no financial value, just sentimental, but if the whole estate has been left to charity those will be lost.

Nameslessone, we certainly do have it covered and yes did it through a solicitor :-D

After I got married and so did my siblings and we had all moved too, I did a Codicil for my mum's will noting all the changes. I typed it all up, sent it to mum and she got 2 people to sign and witness with her.

When it came to the recent probate application form, the solicitor said she was glad I had done this as it made the whole process easier and quicker.

If anyone has made a will more than 10 years ago and have children who have since married and moved or your own circumstances have changed..ie widowed/divorced/remarried, it may be a good idea to get a Codicil done noting the changes. This will assist the Exors in the future.

Florence in the hebrides