Janine has an acquired brain injury as a result of medical negligence at birth.Janine was awarded a lump sum in the region of £900,000 and an annual periodic payment for the rest of her life.Janine receives care from her mother and a team of professional carers in her own adapted property which she shares with her mother and siblings. Janine’s life expectancy is reduced and it is likely that her mother will outlive her. It is anticipated that Janine’s mother will provide care to her for the rest of her life.Janine has had no contact with her father for over 15 years. Under the intestacy rules, Janine’s mother and father would inherit her estate in equal shares.Given the support provided by her mother since birth and that she was going to continue as Janine’s primary carer for the remainder of her life, an application for a Statutory Will benefitting Janine’s mother excluding her father was made to the Court of Protection.A request was also made to the Court to dispense of notice on Janine’s father – we had been unable to locate him via a tracing agent. The Court required us to take further steps to try and locate the whereabouts of Janine’s father with a view to serving notice on him. We liaised with the Official Solicitor to address this issue and a second tracing agent was instructed but again unable to locate Janine’s father.It was also necessary to consider the provisions of section 18(2) of the Family Reform Act 1987 – this relates to the intestacy of an illegitimate child.Following discussions with the Official Solicitor, Janine and her mother, amendments were made to the draft Statutory Will to include small gifts to other family members and a charitable legacy to Janine’s school.
