Property News · July 31, 2015

Disinheritance and the law: why you can’t leave your money to whoever you please


When Melita Jackson decided to disinherit her daughter Heather, she knew what she was doing, and her decision was clear. Now a court has ruled that Heather still has a right to a share of her estate. As Britain experiences a surge in will disputes, is our sense of what we owe our children changing?One night in February 1978, a 17-year-old girl called Heather Jackson secretly crept out of the house. Her mother, Melita Jackson, reported her missing, and Heather was eventually found living with her boyfriend, Nicholas Ilott, and his family. Melita disapproved of Nicholas, believing he wasn’t good enough for her daughter, but Heather refused to come back and there was nothing her mother could do to make her. So she cut her off.Usually you might expect a woman in Melita’s shoes to forgive her only daughter before too long, rather than lose touch altogether, and perhaps that is what Heather expected her mother to do. Usually you might expect the passions of a 17-year-old to waver just as quickly, and perhaps Melita expected that. But, in fact, neither woman weakened. For five years they didn’t speak. Nicholas and Heather got married without telling her mother, and in 1983 gave birth to her first grandchild, which became the occasion for their first reconciliation. Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…Disinheritance and the law: why you can’t leave your money to whoever you please

You may also like...