I have just read the story, this morning, about the daughter who was disinherited and was able to claim on her mother’s estate. What is not made clear is that this only applies in England and Wales (not sure about Northern Ireland).
Scots can rest easy. They can still disinherit their children if they want to without their dirty washing being hung out for all to see in a courtroom.
Well, of course, it is never that easy. The main difference in Scotland is that whilst children have a claim (known as legal rights), this is expressed as a percentage of your estate and excludes any houses or land that you own. This very rarely, if at all, comes to court because it is very clear to everybody exactly what the entitlement is.
Even then, as I tell my clients, if you are keen to leave them as little as possible, turn your cash into property or give it away. That minimises the claim. On a number of occasions, my clients done just that.
Bruce de Wert
I am a solicitor in private practice both in the North of Scotland and in the Borders. I also have online websites where you can make Wills, Powers of attorney and even have a divorce. I have appeared on the BBC and STV speaking about legal matters on a number of occasions.
