Wills

[Reid]

Hello, could someone please tell me if a wife has any statutory rights of inheritance when her husband dies, and, if she does, what percentage. In this instance everything has been bequeathed to distant relatives (first cousins once removed), with the wife receiving life interest only. In addition to the house there is a substantial sum, and we do not think this is what the husband intended.

[Amethyst]

Any challenge to the Will would rest on the exact circumstances. Look at the*Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975.

When you say it's not what he would've intended, do you mean the will has been worded incorrectly or ambiguously (In which case it may help to type out the exact wording of the will), or maybe he hadn't updated it since becoming married? ( A will becomes void on marriage so if the will was made before they married it would be deemed that he had died intestate, unless there was specific provision in the will for marriage) Although if he has worded the world to leave his wife a life interest then it is likely he did it after they married.

How was the house owned? Was it owned solely by the deceased was it jointly owned between husband and wife?