The Eric Whitehead Partnership

Unlike marriage, divorce does not automatically revoke (cancel) your Will. Once divorced, your Will remains valid but takes effect as though your former spouse has died on the date of Decree Absolute. If you made a gift to your former spouse, that gift will not take effect and will form part of your residuary estate. If you have given your entire estate to your former spouse and there is no one else to inherit, your estate will be distributed under the intestacy rules. It is therefore important that you make a new Will as soon as possible. Also, if you have also made Lasting Powers of Attorney, divorce will also cause the appointment of your spouse to be revoked. In these circumstances, your replacement attorneys will step in. However, if your spouse was appointed ‘jointly’ with another,...

Buying a property is the largest transaction most of us will make, so it is natural to that we want to make sure that investment is protected. When more than one person purchases a property, you will each be a co-owner. As co-owners, you can either hold the property as Joint Tenants or Tenants in Common. What are Joint Tenants? If you hold the property as joint tenants, both of you will own the whole of the property. You will not each have a specific share in the property and will not be able to leave a share of the property in your Will. If you sell the property, it will be presumed that you both own the property equally, regardless of each of your contributions to the purchase price. If one of the co-owners dies, their interest would automatically pass to the other co-owner. The surviving...