The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-09 00:00:00

PROVIN G WILLS.

The following is an extract from an interesting and in-
structive article in the lyustrated London News :

Much disappointment is continually being caused
by. the want of a little knowledge on two or three
points in connection viftrthe proving of wills, par.
ticularly as'to thi time when theysmust be proved and
the value of the property left by the testator. A day
spent among the searchers at the new •Will-office,
Somerset-house, will bring many instances of this
under your notice. Take your stand for a short time
by the desk of the clerk who issues the search tickets.
Here comes the eager expectant legatee with his
shilling stamp, and, having given it up and told the
name of the deceased whose will he wishes to see, be is
taken in hand by a clerk with the view of putting him
in the way of doing so. He is now asked, 'When did
the deceased die ?" We have heard him say "Yester-
day," in which case, were it not for the kindness of
the officials in transferring his stamp to some other
searcher, his shilling would be wasted, for swim],
days must elapse from the time of the death
before a will can be proved and a probate granted.
Here comes the poor relative from the country, accom-
panied by her friend, who knows all about the law.
"When did the deceased die?" "Just twelve months
, to-day, sir." The patient relative, under the advice
of her friend, has quietly waited until a year has
passed, because he has told her the will must be proved
within that time; so she has long arranged for a speecial
journey to London on this particular day, as she is sure
to see the will when she then comes. But, perhaps,
after all she is disappointed, for it is not compulsory
on executors to prove a will under the twelve months.
It is very uncertain how long a time will elapse
after the death before a will is proved; in most cases
it is within a month or two. It is proved thus early,
not because the law says it must be proved within any
given time, but to suit the convenience of the
executors and the exigencies of the estate they have
to administer, because they 'cannot fully perform
their duties until they are in possession of the pro-
bate. Unless the testator has been dead three
years the Probate Court authorities do not so much as
inquire why the will has not been proved before; and
whenever the reason of delay, even if it is neglect, or
ignorance, or any other fault of the applicant, so long
as it is truly set forth, we do not know that probate of
a will would or could be refused; we certainly never
knew of a case of refusal on the ground of delay. Any
of the parties interested can, however, compel, by
means of a procass of the court, an early proof of the
will. How much has he left? is the great question
after finding the will; a note at the foot states how
much it is sworn under • but to those who are ignorant
of the law and do not know the full particulars of the
property this statement is very likely to mislead as to
the poverty or wealth of the testator
As the law stands a will may be rightly sworn
under half a million, while the net value of the per-
sonal estate may not in fact amount to half that sum,
or even be sufficient to pay the debts. The executors
are bound to prove the will for the gross value of the
property at the time of the death, without deducting
anything on account of the debts owing or the funeral
and testamentary expenses. Should it happen that if
the debts had been deducted it would have caused a
leas stamp duty to have been paid on the probate, nicer
they are actually paid, on production of the acceunts
and receipts, the Inland Revenue authorities will re-
turn a corresponding part of the duty. Again, if a
will is sworn under any particular sum, it does not
mean even that there is property of that amount in
the gross, although it is very commonly believed so;
it is
instead Sworn
(f )underth e
rseu cbheinsgl,
UED;sTooak,
there may be e an example.
A will is proved under 1.,500. AS a matter of
fact
only £1,(00; for if this latter sum was the exact"
value of deceased's property, the executors could
not swear it under £l,OOO, and would be obliged
to take the probate under £1,500. ¶1 ake ano-
ther case. If a probate is sworn under £60,000, it
simply means that the gross value of the property is
at least £50,000. There is a scale fixed by Act of
Parliament, and executors are required to swear the
property under one of the sums given. This scale,
commencing at £lOO, goes up at first £lOO at each step,
and going on increasing, it soon begins to jump £l,OOO,
£2,000, £5,000, and then £lO,OOO at a time, until it
eventually takes leaps of £100,000; so that the actual
gross value of an estate sworn, say, under £500,000,
might be only exactly £400,000, the place in the scale •
preceding it. To learn fully what property executors'
have to include and what to leave out in their
estimate for probate would need the reading of.
a great many law books and a great many
acts of Parliament; but generally property of any
kind abroad and freehold estate are excluded. Pro- '
perty in settlement, which the testator has not an %
absolute power of willing away to whom he pleases, is •
also excluded. Advantage has often been taken of this
to evade the payment of probate duty: in one case we
have heard of, however, it resulted instead in the Govern-
ment getting two stamps. One of our judges. ex-
pressly for the purpose of avoiding the payment of this
duty at his death, by a deed settled all his property on
his son, reserving to himself only a life interest; un-
fortunately, the son died (without having been mar-
ried) before his father, and the learned judge had the
pleasure of taking out letters of administration to hie • ,
son's estate and paying the stamp duty thereon to 't
enable him to obtain possession of the money he had
so settled, which he got back only as next of kin to his e
son; and on the judge's death the Government got 1
another stamp duty on the same property. The amount ,
a probate is sworn under may or may not include pro-
perty in Scotland or Ireland. In theory it seems right
that an official document, whether granted at
London, Edinburgh, or Dublin, should have force and .
effect all over Great Britain, yet in practice it has
been found that it is sometimes very much cheaper to
go to the trouble and expense of taking out a separate
probate for each country, in consequence of the arbi- '
tary way in which the scale regulating the payment of
this stamp duty is framed.. For instance, suppose a
testator has property in Scotland under the value of
£60,000, and in England under the value of £120,000,
the total value being upwards of £160,000, if one ,
probate is taken it must be sworn under £lBO,OOO and
ill
a stamp of £2,400 is paid; but if two probates are
taken, one in Edinburgh, and one in London on the
Scotch one a stamp of £750 must be paid, and on the
English one a stamp of £1,500, together only £2,250,
thus saving a clear £l5O. Supposing the total pro-
perty is under 21,000,000—under £700,000 in one
country and under £300,000
the other—by taking •
two probates instead of one a sum of £750 would be :It
saved. As it is entirely in the executors' discretion ta
which they will do, we would advise those whose testa-
tors have left property in Scotlaud or Ireland as well
as in England to study the scale a little and see how it
works in their particular case, and take one or two'
probates accordingly as they find in which way they
pay least to the Government.

Isa
GREAT FIRE IN AMERICA.
- of
The New York papers of the 18th ult. publish de- AA
tails of a destructive conflagration which broke out on 17,
the previous afternoon at Boston, on the premises of .811
Messrs. Jordan, Marsh, and Co., dry goys dealers. els
Within ten minutes after the alarm sounded the fire
•
was under sufficient headway to emit large volumes of
smoke, which rolled off rapidly over the harbour, im-
pelled by a strong south-west breeze. The dames
quickly communicated with the combustible material
in the upper storey, and the entire storey, with the
French roof, was soon enveloped in flames. In a short
time the fire had burnt off the wood-work which sup-
ported the passenger elevator, and down the elevator
went with a crash to the basement. This fall was soon
followed by a shower of sparks, which threatened to set
fire to the basement and lower stories of the building,
of which there were three, not including the loft and
basement. Scores of firemen and employes were
actively spreading the covers of the insurance
brigade, and using every effort to save as large a quan-
tity of goods as possible from the effects of the water,
which, heated from its contact with the flames above,
came through the floors and ceiling and rushed down
the broad stairway like a boiling cataract. From sole
deep it increased to ankle deep, and, of courle, caused
great damage to the goods, which had no other direct
support than the floors. The third loft was used as a
storage and
packing-room, and in it were some
60,000 dols. worth of reserve cotton goods and packages.
The story below contained the reserve goods of all the
departments, valued at 950,0 A dols. In the next was
the wholesale counting-room. The linens, white
goods, and hosiery, worth upon an estimate 250,000
dols., were here. Then came the street story, contain-
ing dress goods, prints, and shawls, worth in the
aggregate some 200,000 dols. more. The basement
held the cotton, flannels, and woollen goods, the value
of which could not fall much short of 100,000 doh,.
The total value of the goods as estimated was between
900,000 dols. and 1,000,000 dols. The loss upon the
stock cannot be calculated for some days. The damage
to the building amounted to several thousand dollars.