Published on: 15th June 2026

Where is your Will?

Mr Smith met Mrs Jones in 2010. They were both divorced. They both had two children from their first marriage.  They each had a “family home”. Mr Smith and Mrs Jones married in 2015. They became Mr & Mrs Smith-Jones. Mrs Smith-Jones sold her house and moved in with Mr Smith-Jones in his house (The Gables).

The children of the first marriage of Mr Smith-Jones (A&B) did not get on with Mrs Smith-Jones and became estranged from Mr & Mrs Smith-Jones. The children of the first marriage of Mrs Smith-Jones (Y&Z) got on extremely well with Mr Smith-Jones such that he treated his stepchildren (Y&Z) as if they were his children.

Mrs Smith-Jones gave the proceeds of sale of her house to Y&Z to help them reduce theie mortgages.

We wrote Wills for Mr & Mrs Smith-Jones just after they married in 2015 as follows:

Mr Smith-Jones owned ”The Gables” and gave Mrs Smith-Jones a Life Interest in the house. When Mrs Smith-Jones passed away then the house was to go to X&Y.
Mrs Smith-Jones had very little in assets because she had given the proceeds of sale of her house to Y&Z back in 2015.
Other than the above all was to go to the surviving spouse when the first passed away and then to X&Y when the second passed away.
Our clients were adamant on two points. Point 1: Mr Smith-Jones insisted on storing the two original Wills. Point 2 : Both Mr & Mrs Smith-Jones agreed that nothing should go to A&B.

Mr Smith-Jones died in 2025. The Gables was valued at £600,000. Mr Smith-Jones had £222,000 in cash and investments. The Estate Plan we advised on in 2015 was still ideal. It was tax efficient with no Inheritance Tax due when Mr Smith-Jones passed away.  House to trust. Cash to Mrs Smith-Jones.

Mrs Smith-Jones contacted us to assist with Estate Administration. We asked for the original Will. Mrs Smith-Jones could not find it. This was a disaster.

The result was that Mr Smith-Jones died “intestate”. The Law decides how his Estate is distributed. The distribution became :

First £322,000 of £822,000 to Mrs Smith-Jones.
Balance of £500,000 split between Mrs Smith-Jones (50%) and A&B (50%)
So Mrs Smith-Jones receives £572,000 and A&B receive £125,000 each.
Mrs Smith-Jones has no other house to move to. She insisted on keeping “The Gables”. She had to borrow money from A&B to pay the £26,000 shortfall to A&B.

Because £250,000 of assets went from Mr Smith-Jones to A&B he used up 76.92% of his Inheritance Tax allowance of £325,000 which will not be available to transfer to Mrs Smith-Jones when she passes away.

In summary, A&B received £250,000 which is what Mr & Mrs Smith-Jones did not want to happen.  X&Y did not receive this £250,000. All because the Will could not be found.

Where is your Will?

Casey & Associates offers Will storage in a fire resistant facility.

If you would like to speak with one of our Consultants to discuss any of the issues raised in this article or any other Estate Planning topic please telephone 01732 868 190 or click here.

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If you wish to give instructions or require general information about our Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney, or Trusts then we will carry out a telephone or Zoom appointment.

However, if you wish to give instructions to one of our Consultants and you feel that you can only do this at a Face to Face meeting then we are offering, at our Consultant’s discretion, a limited number of Face to Face appointments in most of the areas we normally cover.

To arrange an appointment please telephone 01732 868190 or click here.

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