Will versus inventory

[brucecumming]

I went through an interesting will for a relative. The will was in Lanarkshire from 1877. He named many beneficiaries - some relatives and some charities with a total amount of about 7,000 pounds. A codicil in 1881 added one more relative and about 30 different charities for 2,800 pounds bringing the total to about 9,800 pounds.

He died in 1882 and the inventory of the estate was about 5,100 pounds. Does this mean the beneficiaries would receive a fraction of the will amounts (e.g. 5100/9800)? If I am understanding this correctly, it seems odd that in 1881 he would not see that his estate was worth far less than what he was allocating (unless there was a drastic change in his fortunes from 1881 to 1882)?

Am I missing something? Thank you.

[GR2]

It depends on what the money was in. Shares and bonds might be worth less than expected when cashed in. One 19th century cousin of mine also owned some tenements in Aberdeen, but the inventory stated that, because of the circumstances of the tenants, it would be amazing if a tenth of the rents were actually paid.

[Forfarian]

Does this mean the beneficiaries would receive a fraction of the will amounts (e.g. 5100/9800)?

That is my understanding, but I am open to correction.

[carolineasb]

That is my understanding too, however, it may also be that there were certain items of estate which for reasons (as is the case today) were not required to be included in the Inventory.

[Lodger]

I could be wrong but I seem to remember when my parents passed away the inventories did not include the house or land. It was more or less just the "moveables" and the value of the furniture, car etc was entered at rock-bottom prices to avoid tax.

[Skoosh]

The fixed assets like land, couldn't be left in a will at one time as they went to the heir. Most folks were unaffected by this arrangement as they as they had neither a will anyhow or land to leave out of a will! 

For an excellent insight into the dead controlling their assets from the grave, get a copy of John Galt's "The Entail!"

Skoosh.

[brucecumming]

Thanks for all of the useful insights. I was not really aware of the concepts of moveable versus immovable or heritable property. I see that the laws regarding specification of heritable property in the inventory were changed in 1868, prior to my will in question (1877-1882 period).

Here is one bit of information on the subject: https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Scotland_Probate_Records#Movable_Property_Only

The inventory in this case itemized several "ground annuals" and "feu-duty" for properties in and around Glasgow. This page helped explain these to me: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_rent

Perhaps he still owned some of these properties and the amounts were not included in the inventory amounts?