Hairdresser ordered to return £380,000 from elderly customer's will
Published: 03:07PM BST 19 Aug 2010
In 1991 they made mutual wills dividing their estate between 15 relatives and friends.
Mrs Cook died in 1995, aged 83; and Mrs Wilson died in 2006, aged 92. However, two months before her death, Mrs Wilson had made a new will that left £380,000 to her hairdresser, £10,000 to her carer and nothing to the beneficiaries of the 1991 will.
The family and friends who were cut out of the later will brought a lengthy and costly court case that finished in August 2010.
The judge decided that the original will made in 1991 should stand because of the 'doctrine of mutuality'. This meant the sisters had made a legally binding agreement in 1991 not to alter their wills without the consent of the other.
Since Mrs Cook had died, she couldn't give her consent to the will made by her sister in 2006. The judge therefore ordered the hairdresser to return the £380,000 she'd received.
Explaining the ruling, wills, family and wealth specialist Karen Shakespeare said: "Mutual wills are entirely different to the usual mirror wills most couples put in place.
"Mutual wills involve a separate contract between two people not to change their wills at any time in the future. The majority of couples don't wish to be restricted in this way and make wills that can be updated and changed as many times as they like."
Trevor George, head of wills, family and wealth, added: "In my 35 years of practice, I've only ever seen one mutual will. For most couples it simply doesn't make sense not to be able to alter their wills to reflect a change in their family or financial circumstances, or to react to a change in the law."
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