It would be very difficult for her to apply for probate, if not impossible given the circumstances..
Actually, he says failed but not divorced. In the eyes of the courts, if they are still married and there is no will she gets all of it, or if children are involved it gets broken down between them but the wife, even if they've not been together for 15 years still gets a massive share. In fact, he could be in a long term relationship with someone else, even have kids with them but that partner would get nothing unless she is named but the child would get a share.
Two months ago my cousin fell ill...He has been in intensive care and recently moved to the high dependency unit.
He has had a tracheotomy done and has Brain damage..He is 44
The doctors have said that there is slow improvement and it could be a very slow process..
They haven't ruled out him making a enough progress to live an independent life.
I had a phone call today from his brother panicking about his affairs...
My cousin is married but the marriage failed years ago....His older brother is worried that if things don't improve she will get everything...
Is there anything he can do?
I'm asking for help as when he rings me I don't know what to say to him for the best.
Have you made a will?
The big question, as you say he has brain damage is, does he still have mental capacity? Does and can he make his own decisions about his life? Are the doctors letting him choose what happens around his treatment?
It's a very complicated thing, depending on the exact circumstances and what estate and assets he has along with who is in his life. A Will only states what happens to your estate after you die, but there's a lot that can happen before then. there are many things that can be done IF he has mental capacity, Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) covers decisions regarding health and another for finances, these give a chosen person or persons power to make decisions based on the best interests of them. You can create a Will, you can even create a Trust to hold everything in.
If he doesn't have mental capacity and doesn't have a will, he can't make one. You must be of sound mind to create and sign a Will. You must be in sound mind to create and sign an LPA. What you can do is get in touch with the Court of Protection and register for access to LPA decisions, but it's not cheap and it's not simple.
I work for probably one of the biggest Estate Planning companies in England and Wales, so if you want to trust me with more information I can suggest some things or I can put you in touch with someone local to them who can help.
I would advise everyone has a Will put in place. I would beware free one's offered by banks etc, they are free because they are named on the Will's as executors and can charge silly amounts of % of the estate after the death. We offer an online service for writing your own Will, it covers the basics and proves very popular, I am sure other services are out there. You can write a Will on a napkin as long as it's witnessed by 2 people who aren't benificeries. I would advise that people also look at LPA's, they cost £110 to register (you can fill them out yourself or get a professional company involved) but there are 2 types of LPA so £220 per person. It states 6 weeks to process but it can take up to 6 months due to backlogs. If it's not filled in correctly (even a signature outside the box) it will be rejected with a cost of £60 ish to reregister. Trusts are another option, along with legal documents splitting the ownership of properties etc.
There's a story of an author who's husband was hit by a truck, in a coma for 3 years and there was no LPA in place. She was on the One Show but I can't remember her name. She ended up dealing with the court of protecton, it's not a pretty story.
