The importance of keeping your house (and farm) in order

We all know it can be a challenge to keep your paperwork (and your house) in order, but for one farmer, his failure to do so had potentially serious consequences for the distribution of his estate.

Mr Turner owned a farm in Surrey from which his father had historically run a pig farming and livestock transport business.

By his Will, Mr Turner left the farm to his close friend, Mr Jones and expressly made no provision for his sister in this Will. Mr Turner and his sister had been estranged since the death of their mother.

Following Mr Turner’s death in 2017, his executors were unable to find his original signed Will – finding only a copy amongst a chaos of papers in the farmhouse.

The judgment records that one of the witnesses said Mr Turner’s office “ looked as though it has been through two world wars and had every piece of paper created since Noah’s Ark.” Another witness described his yard as looking “like a bomb had hit it”. No wonder his executors couldn’t find the original Will!

Challenge

Mr Turner’s sister challenged the Will on the basis that the Will could not be found on his death, and there was a rebuttable presumption that the Will had been destroyed and, therefore revoked.  

If Mr Turner’s Will was found to be revoked, his estate would have passed to his sister under the intestacy rules - contrary to his intentions.

By the time the matter came before a court, Mr Jones was living on the farm. Indeed, before his death, Mr Turner had announced to friends that Mr Jones was to be treated as the owner of the farm and he was given control of it.

Although nobody was able to prove that Mr Turner had not destroyed the original Will, the court found that there was overwhelming evidence that Mr Turner intended the farm to be left to Mr Jones and not the sister he had intentionally left out of his Will. The court, therefore found that Mr. Turner had not destroyed the 2013 Will and ordered probate be granted on the basis of that Will.

Getting your affairs in order

This is a useful reminder of the importance of ensuring that you have your affairs in order and not just because someone might one day be searching through your paperwork (or see how messy your house is!). If you do not have a Will, the intestacy rules can mean that your estate will pass in a way that is contrary to your wishes.

Although Mr Jones was successful in these proceedings, in other circumstances, the court could have favoured the presumption that Mr. Turner’s Will had been destroyed. This case is, therefore, also a helpful reminder to keep important paperwork safe and make sure those close to you know where to find it.

For advice on this subject, get in touch with Alex Speirs on [email protected] or call 0191 211 7997