I wanted to post this to make people aware when they say that a will costs too much… We have many clients that are looking to get their wills done and the internet is full of FREE wills or £19.99 Wills and yet they only look at cost, when in actual fact they need to look at the service they will be receiving before during and after the event.
When Mr Ebenezer Aregbesola prepared a Will in 2007, he had contacted his bank, In this case Barclays, who had offered him a £90 Will service. Ebenezer owned Property and assets both overseas and here in London.
His wishes was that he wanted his daughter, Tinuola Aregbesola to receive his half share of his London property that he owned Jointly with his wife. The Will was prepared and specifically mentioned that the gift of his property to his daughter. So when Ebenezer passed away in 2014, his daughter thought that she would be inheriting the half share of her father’s house as he had told her.
However Barclays had neglected to investigate the ownership of the property.
When a property is owned as Joint Tenants, upon the death of the first owner, the property will automatically pass into the sole name of the survivor, regardless of what is written in their Will. In order for a share in the property to pass under the terms of a Will as Mr Aregbesola had wanted, the property must be owned as Tenants in Common ( TIC ). If the property is not already owned as Tenants in Common, then as part of the Will writing process, the joint tenancy will need to be “severed” which means that it is owned 50 / 50 by the owners of the property.
This is something that Barclays failed to sort out in this case.
Unfortunately Mr Aregbesola and his wife owned their property as Joint Tenants, which meant that the gift of the property in his Will failed and the whole property passed into his wife’s sole name. Mr Aregbesola daughter decided to pursue Barclays with a view to claiming compensation and after an investigation, the Legal Ombudsman found in her favour. They ordered Barclays to pay “a fair and reasonable settlement”. Surprisingly Barclays decided to ignore the Legal Ombudsman ruling and the matter is now set to be heard before the High Court.
A client’s wishes may sometimes mean that we have to consult with different Solicitors in our group, such as IHT and Commercial matters. This is something that we can facilitate, to ensure that you receive a Will which states your wishes according to your requirements, whilst also ensuring that all legal aspects are also in order.