Change of last will and Testament

[VICTORIA]

Can anyone help? If a man makes a will then dies can his wife revoke his will and then she makes a will revoking her husbands wishes from his will. Would his will be null and void??
Victoria

[GrahamSimons]

A bit more detail might help here....

1. Mr X leaves everything to Mrs X. He dies. She inherits. The property is now hers and she can leave it to whomever she chooses (at least in England and Wales).
2. Mr X leaves property in trust for the widow to have the income, but the capital goes to their children on her demise. Once widowed, Mrs X can't leave this trust property to anyone as it's not hers; instead it is vested in the trustees.
3. Mr X dies and leaves everything to the local cats' home. Mrs X can't revoke the will by herself; she can try going to court to claim that she has an expectation of maintenance/residence/whatever. There have been some recent big cases of this sort of thing, where national charities have had their share of an estate reduced. Mrs X might also claim that Mr X wasn't capable of making  a will for some reason (dementia?) and that therefore the estate is intestate, and that intestacy rules apply. Once she has her hands on whatever the courts decide, she can of course then leave this property in her own will.
I await correction by better-informed Rootschatters!

[mazi]

Until recently it was possible to arrange a "deed of variation" which could alter all the terms of the will, provided all the beneficiaries were in complete agreement.

Normally it was used to avoid inheritance tax but there could be many other reasons.

Mike

[VICTORIA]

Thank you the couple did not have children. both are now dead and family were wondering if MrX had made a will then Mrs X changed it leaving other beneficiaries.
Victoria

[rosie99]

Are the family talking about Cash or personal effects 

[VICTORIA]

No family want to know if MrX made a will that was then altered by MrsX who has now died.Have searched probate records but could not find any will made by MrX
Thanks everyone for help.
Victoria

[Mike in Cumbria]

I'm having a hard time understanding the question. If Mr X died before Mrs X, anything they held in common would belong to her.  When she died, she could leave things to whoever she wanted.

[groom]

As I understand it, she couldn't actually change his will without going to court as Graham has stated. I suppose what she could have done, if he'd left the will in her hands rather than with a solictor, is say that he hadn't left a will. In that case, as next of kin, she would inherit everything anyway.

[GrahamSimons]

I'm having a hard time understanding the question. If Mr X died before Mrs X, anything they held in common would belong to her.  When she died, she could leave things to whoever she wanted.

Intestacy rules are rather complex and have changed over time (so we need a date, ideally!).
For real property, it depends on how their title is held - if they are tenants in common, the surviving spouse does not automatically inherit; if they are beneficial joint tenants, they do.
As to moveable property and money, the estate is above a certain value, the children get a share as well.
And the law is very different in Scotland....