Having worked with professional advisers for many years, we always guide them that when supporting clients with their will writing needs, they will learn more about people than they ever thought possible

A recent English County Court case highlighted just this and also the risks of not having a Will especially when there are surprising revelations after a person passes away.

Michael Gymer died in December 2021, 6 months after his wife, Julie Gymer. Michael and Julie had three children, Shelley, Gregory, and Lee. It was only after Julie’s death that the Gymer children were made aware that since the 1990s, Michael had had a girlfriend, Beverley, with whom Michael had two secret children, Charlotte and Joseph. Michael’s five children met for the first time at Michael’s funeral. 

Julie and Michael both died without having Wills in place. On Julie’s death, her entire estate passed to Michael under the rules of intestacy in England and Wales. On Michael’s death, his entire estate – now worth some £460,000 – was set to pass equally among his five children. Each child was therefore set to inherit around £92,000. 

In England, beneficiaries can apply to the court to ask for a distribution contrary to the default intestacy position if the circumstances mean that that would be fairer and the court will consider the merit of the respective claims.  Gregory and Lee raised proceedings at the County Court under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 arguing that it was unfair that Charlotte and Joseph, in inheriting equally in Michael’s estate, should thereby receive a portion of Julie Gymer’s £170,000 estate. 

Beverley claimed that Julie knew of the affair from 1998 and it was argued that if Julie had wanted to direct her estate to her children, she would and should have made a Will. Meanwhile, Gregory and Lee argued that Julie would never have agreed to leave her estate to Michael’s love children. 

Decision

The judge was not convinced by Beverley’s account that Julie knew of the affair, stating that it was unlikely that Julie would have kept this secret from her own children as she had been so open with them during her life. The judge held that that the five children are “all perfectly innocent of their father’s deceptive conduct, which has created the unfortunate mess now before us.” It was held that since Charlotte and Joseph had no reasonable expectation of inheriting from Julie as they were not her children nor acknowledged as or treated as such – they had no relationship and Julie had no responsibility to them. 

In the judgement, the £170,000 funds which Michael inherited from Julie were therefore removed from the court’s calculation as to the fair way to distribute Michael’s estate. The court considered each of the children’s financial needs. Gregory and Lee were awarded a third each of the Gymer’s joint wealth. Meanwhile, Shelley, whose financial needs were deemed to be lesser than that of her brothers, and the half-siblings were each awarded £58,000. 

Want to lean more about your clients? Get in touch today and we’ll show you how providing estate planning services can reveal much more than you ever imagined.