The world’s strangest laws 2

It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament (even though you might think it’s a good idea for some/all politicians).

Documental evidence is common in courts but remarkable exhibits also occasionally feature in cases of probate.

In Los Angeles, before the Second World War, George W. Hazeltine, 86, lay ill in hospital. He decided that he wanted to make a new Will and leave $10,000 to his nurses, Lillian Pelkey and Madeline Higgins. Being a matter of urgency and there being no paper to hand, Miss Pelkey pulled up her dress, placed a board under her petticoat, and the Will was pencilled on her undergarment.

After much deliberation the petticoat was eventually admitted to probate. Unfortunately the nurses were prevented from benefiting from the Will because they were the attesting
witnesses of it.


Alan Porter of The Will Centre warns “Many home made (or ‘hospital’) Wills are often found to be invalid because the deceased has not done it correctly and this includes the witnessing. A person who benefits from the Will cannot be a witness and neither can the spouse or civil partner of a beneficiary. It’s an expensive mistake to make.”

With inflation the $10,000 would now be worth approximately $149,166 or £76,055 at today’s rates. A very expensive mistake!!!!!!

IHT Exemption for War Veterans

This exemption is contained in section 154 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 and applies where a person was a member of the armed forces and was on active service. It provides that there will be no Inheritance Tax charged on the estate of a person certified by the Ministry of Defence or the Secretary of State as having died from a wound inflicted, accident occurring or disease contracted while on active service, or a disease contracted at some previous time, the death being due to or hastened by the aggravation of the disease during active duty.

World War veterans are not the only possible claimants. There are many families who have had relatives who have served in other conflicts such as Aden, Malaya, Korea, Northern Ireland, the Falklands and more recently in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.

A slightly bizarre side to all this, is that it is impossible for any potentially eligible ex servicemen and women to know whether their estate will be exempt. The decision will be made after their death and for this reason it is extremely important that their death certificates should list all causes of death. To ensure that this is done, the family doctor should be informed about this issue and veterans should put together a dossier of medical evidence and a detailed statement of wounds and/or diseases and keep records. With these documents, beneficiaries will be able to appeal to the MOD to get the Inheritance Tax refunded.

In most cases the Inheritance Tax will have to be paid in order for the family to get probate. The appeal comes after that. It must be made clear that this exemption only relates to Inheritance Tax payable on the estate of the deceased veteran; it does not relate to any other tax or duty payable for example on a lifetime transfer or when a discretionary trust comes to an end on death.

To claim the exemption, it is essential to obtain a certificate. There are two forms of certificate: a simple one for deaths of currently serving individuals where there is no doubt that section 154 is satisfied and one for other deaths.

By concession, the exemption has been applied in the past to the estates of members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary who died from injuries caused in Northern Ireland by terrorist activity.

Alan Porter, of The Will Centre, was in HM Submarines during the Falklands in 1982.