Capstone

Capstone: the estate of Margit Hale

Margit Hale is an invented woman who died in March, aged seventy-six. She leaves a second husband, Ivo, whom she married four years before; two adult children from her first marriage, Lena and Matyas; two grandchildren, Pal and Rosa, who are the minor children of her third child, Orsolya, who died last year; and a sister, Greta. Her papers are in some disorder. There is a witnessed will from eight years ago, a codicil with one witness, an unsigned typed draft that she told friends was her will, and a handwritten note about the flat by the sea. Matyas says that Ivo pressed her. Ivo says that he was left out. Lena wants the estate settled quickly. You are asked to advise. Use the six questions from Module 1 and the checklists from Modules 2, 4 and 7, and use the three tools. All facts are invented, the tools use simplified rules, and the place whose law governs is left open, so state your assumptions as you go.

General education on the law of wills and succession, using invented people and estates. It states common principles in simplified form and does not describe any one country’s law, which differs and changes; rules on wills, intestacy, family claims and probate are strict and local. It is not legal advice. Consult a qualified lawyer in the place that matters.