The Will of a Royal Marine killed in action in Afghanistan has been challenged by a former girlfriend who claimed she was entitled to a share of the estate. Sergeant John Manuel was tragically killed by a suicide bomber in 2008. His Will left his £290,000 estate to his mother who had raised him and his siblings single handedly. The claimant, Rachel Douglas, said that she had been in a six year relationship with the deceased and sought to receive £60,000 from the estate. Sgt Manuel’s brother, the executor of the estate, wanted her to receive only £10,000 stating that the relationship had been ‘rocky’ and producing a witness who claimed she had an affair with the marine. The family claimed that Ms Douglas only had a casual relationship with the deceased however she proved that she had lived with him continuously for more than two years prior to his death as his partner. The judge agreed with Ms Douglas stating that the evidence of a ‘single domestic economy’ showed that they lived as a couple and that there was ‘an emotional tie’ between the two of them. He awarded the claimant a total of £17,440 but ordered that she shared the costs of the legal action. It is assumed that the challenge is largely successful due to the Will that disinherited the claimant being written back in 2002, before the couple were together. Just weeks before Sgt Manuel left for Afghanistan he told his brother that he wanted her to receive just £10,000 if anything should happen to him while he was on tour.

 The above article was published by The Society of Willwriters in England

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Registration of Land

The system of u n r e g i s t e r e d conv eyanc i n g has been the method by which transfers are  effected for centuries. It w o r k e d  s at i s fact o r i l y when land ownership was limited to a privileged few but the growth of home ownership and the population in general it started to exhibit major pitfalls. Moves to reform the system led to the registration of land and saw the implementation of the Land Registration  Acts of 1997 and 2002.

The Acts and subsequent rules made major changes to the way registered land is conveyed. The 2002 Act contains an extended list of ‘events’ that will trigger a compulsory first registration. This greatly increases the scope of registration as it stood under the initial 1925 Land Registration Act. Under this legislation the only transactions which triggered registration were a conveyance on sale, the grant of lease of more than 21 years or the assignment of a current lease with 21years left to run.

The 1997 Act included within this scope Deeds of Gift, conveyances for any consideration, first mortgages and assents. The 2002 Act extended this further to any transfer of a ‘qualifying estate’ (being a legal freehold estate or a leasehold with 7 years left to run). Since 1 December 1990 all of England and Wales has been an area of compulsory first registration so if any of the above events occur the title must be submitted for registration within a statutory 2 month period. Failure to register the land within the statutory time limit will result in the transfer becoming void. 

If this occurs the transferor will hold the legal title on bare trust for the transferee. If it becomes necessary to repeat the transfer then the party at fault will be liable for the additional costs involved. If a practitioner fails to carry out a first registration on the occurrence of one of the trigger events this will lead to a claim of negligence.

It is possible to apply for a voluntary first registration (with the incentive of reduced Land Registry fees) at any time. This may be an attractive option to your clients as it will negate the need for registration either when one of the trigger events occurs or on their death. It will also simplify future transfers resulting in a cost saving.

On receipt of an application for registration the Land Registrar will investigate the title and will allocate a class which will be either absolute, possessory or qualified. Absolute title is the best class available and signifies that there are no defects in the title or only minor defects that do not affect the underlying title to be disturbed. Possessory title is granted where the applicants title is based on adverse possession or if the title deeds have been lost or destroyed. Qualified title is very rare and is given where the applicant can only be granted title for a limited period or subject to certain reservations.

An example of this is where a transfer is made in breach of trust.

(With gratefull acknowledgments to the society of Will Writers.)

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An Economy Too Far!

As this story unfurled I was reminded of James Hammond’s presentation at an O4RB Meeting on the subject of Brands or Branding  (business brands that is, as distinct from those applied with hot irons).

For something like 30 years I had been protecting myself from the stresses and strains of uncertain motoring dilemma with my membership of the Royal Automobile Club.

Any car can break down or suffer unforeseen problems no matter how well it is serviced and, in truth I came to regard my RAC membership as more important to me than my statutory car insurance policy. The good old RAC and its devoted team never once let me down, and would always go that extra mile to get me back on the road as soon as possible.

On one occasion, after a broken metal aerial had been flung up from the road to spear my car’s fuel tank, the patrolman even went so far as to make a repair by cutting an unused rubber duck aerial from the roof of his own vehicle, and using it, together with (I think) some epoxy resin, satisfactorily to plug the hole. That repair was still holding strong when some time later I had the fuel tank replaced under a claim on my comprehensive insurance policy.

However the RAC are not the cheapest bunch to belong to, and as many of their rivals advertise strongly, and appear to have a good and happy following I switched horses for one of the others last year to save some money. I mean why not! They all offer the same service don’t they?

Just short of a year later I am here to tell you that nothing is further from the truth.

Just a couple of weeks ago, while in the Lake District with my wife, our caravan and trusty old land Rover Discovery we discovered a broken exhaust pipe hanging dangerously below the Landy.

No problem I thought, I’ll just ring my break down service and ask them to send a man to secure the pipe safely so I can drive to an exhaust centre and have a new one fitted. You may imagine my surprise when an hour later I was visited by a man with an enormous recovery vehicle but hardly a tool kit to his name. All he was able to produce was a screwdriver and some cable ties (plastic cable ties) with which he tied up the exhaust pipe and drove off into the midday sun. (Oh yes we were in Coniston during the first rainless week for 6 weeks – it wasn’t all bad luck.)

When very shortly afterwards I again rang the breakdown firm they acknowledged the shortfall in their service, and agreed that if I located an appropriate exhaust centre they would provide recovery of our Landy to that centre the following morning. This was done but meanwhile we needed to request a hire car. No problem with one being provided but it had to be brought to us so we could be taken in it to the hire company’s office many miles away to complete the hire agreement before we drove it back to Coniston.

All this wasted a day and a half of a one-week holiday!

So there is a lesson here. Just because the RAC has a proven and reliable brand it is a mistake to assume that any similar organisation can even hold a candle to its level of service. I have been extremely happy to rejoin the RAC and pay them whatever they ask.

Now if I can generate for my business the sort of Brand that the RAC has!!

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About The Rules of Intestate Succession and how do they affect you?

1. If you had died last week without a currently valid Will:

•  Who would be entitled to your worldly goods, and how would they be divided if at all?
•  Is the answer the same for married or single people?
•  Does having children make a difference?

2. What do you have to do to change these rules to suit your own requirements?

3. If you make a Will when does it take effect, and how long is it valid?

4. Can your change a Will?

5. Can it be overriden?

6. Can you change somebody else's Will?

7. Have you been properly advised about how your home should be owned, i.e. sole ownership, joint tenancy, tenancy-in-common, with or without a mortgage?

8. Do Will Writing consultants assist with taxation planning?

9. Why do financial Advisers recommend the clinets also take advice and  make Wills?

10. Can you think of any more questions you would like answered?

11. Who do you know who would be happy to answer them.?

12. Would you like to attend a meeting at which you can question me on th above and related topics?  (answer please to Brian@inheritanceprotect.co.uk  tweet @BrianWi11iamson

(This web site contains  clues!)

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