Sisters Inherit Estate After Will Challenge

Four sisters are set to inherit their father's estate, estimated between £750,000 and £1m, following a successful High Court challenge. The dispute centered on a will Michael Gwilliam made in 2014, after being sectioned under the Mental Health Act due to late-onset schizophrenia. This condition caused him to experience delusions, including the belief that his daughters were conspiring against him.

His daughters, who stated their father always wished to die intestate, discovered the will upon his death in 2022. The will left only a quarter of his estate to them, with the remainder designated for his sister, former partner, and nephews. The daughters argued their father lacked the mental capacity to create the will due to his fixed delusions.

In January, the High Court ruled the will invalid. The judge found that Gwilliam's delusions, such as believing his daughters were stealing from him or trying to have him committed, meant he lacked the necessary 'testamentary capacity'. The court acknowledged that the defendants may have believed their statements about the daughters were true, but Gwilliam's fixed false beliefs ultimately invalidated the document.

The daughters expressed relief at the verdict, stating it vindicated their father's true wishes. They also highlighted the need for greater awareness and training for will-writing services regarding mental capacity and the needs of older individuals.