Where there's a will: Estate planning lessons from a family farm dispute

Some people say that promises are made to be broken. Frequently, the courts do not agree. So it was with the estate of Tom Davies (now deceased) in a case decided by the High Court this May. Tom was a proud Welsh farmer. He had started out as a tenant and, by the sweat of his own brow, had become the outright owner of 87 acres together with a farmhouse and bungalow.   Case study Tom died on 31 May 1999 at the age of 76. He left behind him a wife and five children. By his last will, he instructed that the farm should be sold and that the proceeds should be divided into five s...