CONTENTIOUS ESTATES: Executor jailed for forging letter of wishes
A man has received a five-year jail sentence for forging a letter of wishes that purported to have been written by a friend who appointed him her executor. After the woman’s death, he handed the letter to solicitors dealing with her estate, hoping to convince them that it made him sole executor and main beneficiary of her will, which would otherwise have left over GBP2 million to an air ambulance charity. The court decided the testatrix did not have mental capacity when the letter was said to have been signed by her.
Third Sector Online
The Independent
TAXATION: Bereavement payments extended to cohabitants with dependent children
The UK government is to extend bereavement benefit payments to the cohabitants of deceased parents of dependent children under the Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2022. The changes will be backdated to August 2018. More than 20,000 extra parents could claim the benefit under the new rules.