Family Feuds and Disinheritance

Unresolved family conflicts can have lasting consequences, particularly regarding inheritance. Family fallouts and long-standing tensions can lead to changes in succession plans, potentially leading to prolonged and expensive legal disputes. This can leave families fractured long after the loss of a loved one.

While this might sound like a storyline from the land of TV soaps, real-life examples are in the press regularly, and these are just cases with large estates. A recent report highlighted in This Is Money, underscores the prevalence of family fallouts influencing inheritance decisions.

Inheritance disputes, which often reflect deeper familial issues, are increasing, and this trend shows no signs of abating.

Lime Solicitors commissioned an anonymous survey of 1,000 adults in the UK, which was weighted to be representative of the UK population.

The main findings were revealing:

• 1 in 3 people admitted they would exclude a relative from their will due to personal dislike
• 1 in 4 said they’d disinherit someone who had distanced themselves from the family
• 1 in 5 would disinherit a family member following a falling out
• 1 in 6 would write someone out a will because they did not visit enough

While we typically get involved in cases where no valid will is in place and the rules of intestacy apply, we can assist in cases where beneficiaries named in a will can not be located in the UK or around the world.

Please take a look at our Finding Missing Beneficiaries service, which is available to legal professionals and lay executors/administrators. Do not hesitate to get in contact should you require any assistance at info@angliaresearch.co.uk