Specific Will Bequests and Why Codicils are Evil
Estate Planning Movies that might count as CPD (but probably won’t)
We’re going to explore our favourite movies as the means to illuminate important legal concepts and dispense some legal pro-tips.
Rest assured that this is not some shameless attempt to generate clicks. We hope that our approach will make learning fun, but we acknowledge the very real risk that by introducing legal teachings we may simply end up ruining the movie for everybody. Either way, it’s a risk we’re willing to take.
We’ll start this week by looking at director Wes Anderson’s best movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel.
The plot concerns a hotel concierge, Monsieur Gustave H, a man of unflappable charm which he uses to ease his way into the hearts of his elderly guests.
One such client, the wealthy dowager Madame D, makes a specific bequest to Monsieur Gustave – the priceless painting ‘Boy with Apple’. Of course, Madame D soon meets with foul play. Her likely murderer is her nephew Dmitri, who believes ‘Boy with Apple’ to be his rightful inheritance.
How does this relate to Estate Planning?
Pound for pound, The Grand Budapest Hotel’s Will-reading scene contains more estate planning terminology than any other movie I can recall. According to the executor of Madame D’s estate, her last Will and testament consist of “a general tontine in combination with 635 separate amendments, notations, corrections, letters of wishes and codicils.”
The movie also includes other unforgiveable estate planning faux pas such as keeping a secret, hidden Will, and a separate Will-maker signing an unwitnessed testamentary document, written in pencil and transcribed by the sole beneficiary. This isn’t coherent estate planning; it’s a shambles.
If it’s important enough for a codicil, it’s important enough for a Will
As with all good legal fights, much bloodshed occurs before the dispute over ‘Boy with Apple’ is finally resolved.
The specific bequest of the painting – the gift that caused all the trouble – was contained in a codicil. A codicil is a separate document that modifies an original Will by making an amendment or an addition to the terms of the Will. They are sometimes thought to be a quick and easy solution that allows a testator to make small changes to their wishes.
In practice, however, a codicil provides no significant advantage over preparing an entirely new Will. The signing requirements of both documents are the same and the costs are likely to be similar. Further, the prospects of procedural defects or disputes in general are unacceptably high.
Madame D would have been well advised to bypass entirely her final codicil, and indeed her 635 other amendments, notations, corrections and letters of wishes, by making a new Will. This document would have revoked all of her previous testamentary documents and provided a simple and definitive last Will and testament.
In other words, if an issue is important enough to prompt a client to ask for a codicil, it’s important enough to justify a new Will.
For assistance with Estate Planning and Wills, please get in touch with our Aintree Group Legal team.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is now streaming on Disney+.
This is general advice only and has not been prepared with your situation and needs in mind. For individual and personalised advice, we highly recommend that you seek out proper professional advice from your lawyer.
