The late TV comedian Sean Hughes, of Never Mind the Buzzcocks fame, died aged 51 in 2007, unmarried. Sadly, it was no laughing matter when his Will, which he drafted himself using an online platform without taking any legal advice, ended up being the centre of attention in the High Court this week. There was confusion over imprecise wording used in his Will.
In his lifetime, Sean had been a great supporter of the homeless charity Shelter and in his Will, he left a specific bequest of ‘my three houses’ to the charity. He owned his north London home and had two other properties nearby. The problem was that he only owned one house at the time of his death. The other two houses were in the name of a company, of which he was the only shareholder. The total value of the other two houses amounted to £2.15m. They would have formed part of his residuary estate to be held on trust for his family, which would have left Shelter financially out of pocket if the Will’s wording had been taken literally.
Although Hughes’ family agreed that the company shares (and therefore the properties) should pass to the charity, the case had to be referred to Court for a final decision. Master Iain Pester decided that the ‘correct construction of the Will’ was that the shares should pass to Shelter.
It has been almost a decade since Hughes died and this case highlights how important it is to take professional advice when dealing with your estate to ensure no such confusion arises.
It was lucky that Sean’s family and Shelter agreed that the charity was the correct and intended beneficiary, but this may not always be the case, proving the old saying many lawyers are familiar with: ‘where there’s a Will there’s a row’.
Review your Will every 3-5 years or when family circumstances change, take professional advice, communicate your intentions to family members if you can, or consider leaving a letter to your executors lodged with your Will setting out why you might have departed from an expected route in disposing of your estate. For more information, please contact our Private Client team on 01732 747900 or [email protected]
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Please note that the law may have changed since this article was published. We do not accept responsibility or liability for any actions taken based on the information in this article.
