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Will should be made on behalf of elderly dementia sufferer

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Will should be made on behalf of elderly dementia sufferer

The Court of Protection has ruled in the case of an 81-year-old who lacks the capacity to make a will.

The pensioner has a substantial fortune, with assets totalling around £2.3million, but has never taken the necessary steps to put his affairs in order.

In recent years the man, identified in legal documents simply as Mr Jones, had been diagnosed with dementia and no longer had the faculties to make his own statutory will.

This had prompted concerns that his estate would be subject to the laws of intestacy, a particular worry given the man’s family arrangements.

The Court of Protection had heard that Mr Jones’ daughter from a previous marriage lived in Canada and had had little contact with her father for many years. It was thought that a 50/50 split between her and Mr Jones’ current wife would be inappropriate given the circumstances.

Judge Eldergill, who presided over the case, had concluded that it was in the pensioner’s best interests for a statutory will to be executed on his behalf. This, he ruled, would be the best way of reaching a settlement which best met the needs of the parties concerned.

He said that specialist executors would be appointed, with 75 per cent of assets to be left to Mr Jones’ wife and the remainder of the wealth to his daughter.

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