A daughter who claims that Barclays botched her father’s will is taking legal action after the will deprived her of half of her father’s London property.
Tinuola Aregbesola is seeking hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation after a will from Barclays will-writing service resulted in her losing her stake to her father, Ebenezer Aregbesola’s property.
Ebenezer Aregbesola had used Barclays’ £90 will-writing service to state what happened to his estate upon his death. According to this will, which divided most of his London and overseas properties, half of his London home was to go to his daughter Tinuola. However, the property was owned jointly by Mr Aregbesola and his wife, who was not Tinuola’s mother. As a result of this dual ownership, the property went wholly to his wife upon his death despite his will stating otherwise.
According to experts Barclays, or solicitors working for the service, should have severed the joint tenancy agreement, which would have enabled half of the property’s value to pass as instructed to his daughter. Failure to do this, however, passed the property on to Mr Aregbesola’s widow, who is legally entitled to the whole property.
Legal Battle
According to many media reports, Barclays was found at fault by the Financial Ombudsman and ordered to pay a “fair and reasonable settlement.” The bank opted to ignore this recommendation opting to take the case to the High Court.
The Ombudsman concluded: “The half-share in the property in London cannot be gifted to Miss Aregbesola in accordance with the late Mr Aregbesola’s wishes.
“There is no subsequent right for this to be contested with the co-owner in a court of law. Had the bank referred Mr Aregbesola’s will instruction form to its solicitors I am aware [the solicitors would] issue the notice of severance as a matter of good practice.
“To resolve the complaint we would usually ask the bank to put the consumer back in the position they would have been had the correct steps had been taken in the first instance.
“Unfortunately, the share in the property in Balham is incapable of being gifted now. Therefore, I would ask Barclays to come up with a settlement that would fairly and reasonably resolve the complaint – taking into consideration the value of the property and the intended gift.”
Barclays, however, stated that they would oppose the review as the will-writing division was not regulated and did not have to adhere to the Ombudsman’s findings
Danger of DIY/Low-Cost Wills
The story, which gained significant media attention, highlights the issue of DIY and low-cost wills. While DIY wills may seem tempting rather than spending a few hundred pounds ensuring your assets and estate is safe when you die, many schemes result in much higher costs in the long term and for those you leave behind. The wills struggle to properly deal with complex family arrangements, remarriage and property divisions. If you wish to make a will, the best to ensure it is legally watertight is to have it reviewed by a skilled solicitor.
As well as this, according to experts, such services such as Barclays will-writing service offer low prices “because these organisations aim to profit from the fees generated by administering the estate as executor, after the testator’s death.”
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