Can I challenge my father-in-law’s will?

Is it possible to find out the contents of a person’s will a year after their death? Since my father-in-law’s death, my husband and his stepmother have maintained secrecy over his will but, as a member of the family, I feel I have a right to know what was in it. And if I were unhappy with the will’s contents, could I challenge it?

Paul Hewitt, a partner in the Contentious Trust and Succession team at law firm Withers, says a will becomes a public document once it has been lodged at the Probate Registry and when a Grant of Probate (the document establishing that your father-in-law’s executors have the legal title to deal with his estate) has been issued.

If a grant has been issued, then you can obtain a copy of it and the will from the Probate Registry at a cost of £5.

If a grant has not yet been issued, you can lodge a standing search and the Probate Registry will send you a copy of the grant if one is issued in the following six months. (For information visit www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/1211.htm).

Being a family member does not in itself give you any special entitlement – anybody can obtain a copy.

There are two primary ways of challenging a will. One is on the basis that it is invalid (there are a range of reasons why a will may be invalid, such as incapacity).

However, such a challenge should only be made if you would have done better under an earlier will which has since changed, or if you would have been better off if there was no will at all (intestacy). Although your husband would benefit on his father’s intestacy, you would not.

The second way is to bring an alternative claim, for example, for financial provision. As a daughter-in-law, financial provision would only be possible if your late father-in-law had been providing for you when he died.

Your question also suggests your marriage may be in difficulty. If a divorce were to ensue, details of any inheritance due to your husband from his father’s estate would have to be provided as part of the process. In the context of questioning your husband’s financial position, you could ask for a copy of the will and all supporting documents. The Family Court regards any potential inheritance as a “resource” which will be taken into account and may form part of the “family pot” for division.

Do I need to pay tax on interest?

I have £300,000 on deposit in the UK earning 6 per cent interest. I brought the money in to the country to buy a house. I am resident and paying tax in a southern African country, and expect to spend only a very short time in the UK during this tax year. Is the interest taxable in the UK? I am British and hold a UK passport.

Leonie Kerswill, tax partner at accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers, says it appears that you are neither resident nor “ordinarily resident” in the UK and, in such circumstances, you should not need to pay any UK tax on the deposit
interest.

UK residence rules are quite complex but, broadly, individuals will not be regarded as resident in the UK if their visits to the UK total less than 183 days in one tax year or average less than 91 days a year over a four year period.

Individuals who live outside the UK will generally be regarded as both not resident and not ordinarily resident in the UK.

Banks and building societies in the UK generally deduct tax at a rate of 20 per cent before the interest is credited to an account. But, as you are not ordinarily resident, you may be able to opt for the interest to be credited to your bank account gross.

You can arrange this by completing a “not ordinarily resident” declaration form R105, assuming that this is an option under the terms and conditions of your bank account.

Not all banks and building societies accept this form, so you should ask yours for details. The declaration will have effect from the date when the institution receives it, and cannot be backdated.

Assuming that the UK bank interest is your only source of UK income, you should make the declaration to receive your interest gross with no UK tax to pay on the income received.

But if an individual has other sources of income then being taxed in this way may not be so beneficial. Under UK tax rules, it effecively also means that you lose your UK personal allowance.

For individuals with UK property income or trading profits as well as bank interest it may be better to continue to receive bank interest with tax deducted at 20 per cent and keep their personal allowance to offset against their other income.

You should also be aware that individuals may be subject to tax on UK interest in the country in which they are resident.

If you receive interest net of UK tax, you may be able to reclaim it under the appropriate tax treaty, or claim a credit for the UK tax against the overseas
liability.