A farmer labourer lived for 25 years on a farm where the owner provided full board and lodgings with no pay. The owner told his loyal worker that the farm would be his when he passed on.
However, the owner died without leaving a valid Will and the 400 acre property went to his sisters and nieces.
The labourer was originally just helping out his cousin, but this developed into a full working week with 18 hour days totally managing the farm and doing the paperwork.
A will was drawn up leaving the farm to the labourer, but the testator decided to update his will and it is here the story goes wrong. The will was not returned and/or signed so effectively he was without a will.
The family then rallied around and helped the hopeful (and expectant) owner go to court to contest the will. The judge finally decided in his favour citing the fact that he had been promised the farm and that he’d lived there without pay for 25 years.
He now has a £300,000 inheritance tax bill to pay, but it looks like the family are going to help him again as they did keep the £1.1 million cash from the estate and they don’t want him to have to sell the farm he’s just received which represents his life’s work.
The moral to the story is two fold; make sure your will is up to date, signed and witnessed properly and kept in safe storage. Secondly; if you have ‘kept’ someone for a period of time a judge is likely to find in favour of that person if they’ve not been provided for in the will; but not always to such a generous amount.
Further moral to the story; nice to see the family doing the right thing; they can all sleep at night.
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