Joshua Herewini of Somerby Cottage, Shepreth Lane, Shepreth, Cambridgeshire, a retired aerial archaeologist, died last week aged eighty three. As one of the executors of his will, Juliet Lawrie, his sister in law, has instructed Mrs Sarita Patel  a solicitor of Pemberton  LLP Solicitors to advise her on a number of issues that are concerning her regarding the deceased’s homemade will which was made on the 22nd May 1999. He had made this will shortly after coming out of hospital following a contusion on the brain and a fractured jaw caused by him being knocked off his bicycle by a motor car.

Mrs Lawrie is not sure what her duties and responsibilities are regarding her being the executrix of Joshua Herewini’s will. Mr Herewini appointed two executors and the other person is Gretel Herewini his wife, whom Mrs Lawrie knows divorced Mr Herewini in July 2008 and now lives in Trieste, Italy. She wants to know whether Mrs Herewini’s role will be same as her own role.

She has also noticed a page, torn from a notebook attached to the will which is signed and witnessed by two persons and dated the 4^th of June 2013. She wants to know what this document is and the impact it has on the will. In it Mr Herewini appears to have revoked a legacy of £110,000.00 [one hundred and ten thousand pounds] in his will that he left to a Ms Katina Smirnova. Mrs Lawrie has heard that this occurred one evening at a wine tasting party when in a state of intoxication Mr Herewini, had an argument with Ms Katrina Smirnova and had revoked this legacy of £110,000.00 [one hundred and ten thousand pounds] to Ms Smirnova. She wants to know is this valid or does she have to pay out this legacy to Ms Smirnova.

Mr Herewini has left the residue of his estate to his daughter Bethan Roy and his grandson Rhydian Rhydderch. She knows that Rhydian lives in Beddgelert, Gwynedd, Wales, but at present does not know where Bethan Roy lives, although she does know that Bethan was last heard of working in an archaeological site in Azerbaijan. Mrs Lawrie is concerned that Mr Joshua Herewini has spelt Rhydian’s surname incorrectly as ‘Rhiderch ’ in his will and whether this invalidates the legacy to him. She also wants to know how she can trace and inform Bethan Roy of her legacy and what steps she as an executrix can take to protect herself if she cannot trace Bethan Roy.

Mrs Laurie is concerned that the will has become frayed and is torn and she does not know how this happened. The last five letters of the testator’s surname has been torn off along with the end of the date the will was signed.

In the will, Mr Herewini has made a £100,000.00 [100,000 thousand pounds] gift to Mrs Lawrie but she wishes to refuse the legacy of £100,000.00 [one hundred thousand pounds] as she doesn’t need the money and does not want to upset her own estate planning and tax position. She would like it to go to the Hawk Conservancy Trust. She is not sure what steps, if any, she would have to take to do this.

Please discuss the issues that arise in this case

You are not required to discuss the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

Question 2

James Pope died on the 2nd November of 2019. He left a will dated the 8th of September 1991. The will was validly executed in accordance with Section 9 of the Wills Act 1837.

The will contained the following provisions:

1. I appoint my wife Josephina Pope as executrix of my will and in the event of her

predeceasing me then I appoint my friend Dipesh Warburton as executor of this my Will

2. I give to my good friend Shefali my Holman Sloop sailing boat
3. I give to my children Henriette and Andre Pope the sum of £200,000.00 [TWO

HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS] each

4. I give my sister Janette my Carrs Silver English Thread Stainless Steel 44-Piece Canteen.
5. I leave to my niece Arabella Pope my CASE 40 BHP Traction Engine
6. I leave £10,000.00 [TEN THOUSAND POUNDS] to the Wisbech Wildlife Society, a registered

charity

7. I give the remainder of my estate subject to the above dispositions to my wife Josephina Pope.

Since James’s death, the following information has been established.

1. Josephina Pope died in March 2012.
2. His friend, Dipesh Warburton does not want to be the executor of James Pope’s will. He has just got a job in Tristan de Cuna as a conversation officer, and will be unable to administer James’s estate. At the time of James’s death he went along with James’s sister Janette, to obtain the death certificate and certified copies and paid an outstanding bill that was due to James’s gardener of £52.30. James had a friend called Shefali as well as a cousin called Shefali with whom he enjoyed fishing.
3. His daughter Henriette, died last year in a cross country skiing competition when she fell into a crevasse and was killed. She left two children Anne (19 years of age) and Helen (15 years of age). Her older brother Andre is married and lives with his wife, Heloise in Perpignan, France. They do not have any children.
4. The Holman Sloop sailing boat was badly holed in Weymouth Harbour and sunk in 2012.
5. The vintage CASE 40 BHP Traction Engine was sold by James in 2006 and he bought a vintage Aveling & Porter steam roller at auction with the proceeds of the sale.
6. James’s Carrs Silver English Thread Stainless Steel 44-Piece Canteen has been loaned to the Silver Artefacts Museum in Bottom of FormCambridge. He did this four years before he died.
7. Josephina Pope had been married before she met James and had a son from that marriage called Benedict. Benedict was ten years of age at the time his mother Josephina married James. Benedict had always been treated as part of the family both financially and emotionally by James. James had not adopted Benedict. He had been left out of Jame’s will.
8. Wisbech Wildlife Society a registered charity ceased to exist two years prior to his death.

Please advise:

2 (a) Who will be responsible for administering Jame’s estate?   15 marks

2 (b) How will Jame’s estate be distributed?          45 marks

Cases to use

Banks v Goodfellow

Oakes v Oakes (1852) 9 Hare 666

Pytt v Fendall and Jones (1953) 1 Lee 553

Books: Law of succession- Kerridge R, Parry and Kerridge: The Law of Succession (12^th edn, Sweet and Maxwell 2009

Legislations to use:

Administration of Justice Act 1982

Charities Act 2011

Family Law Reform 1987

Inheritance Tax Act 1984

Mental Capacity Act 2005

Trustee Act 1925

Wills Act 1837

PLEASE use as many cases, statutes, law articles and books as possible from academic resources only westlaw, lexisnexis library.