Will Mystery

[coseley]

I have my great grandfather's Will dated 6th November, 1911. It shows Gross value of Estate £1,461. 16s 6d. Net value of Personal Estate £104.17s

Does anyone have any ideas please as to the difference between the two figures? Does the answer lie in the word 'Personal'. Could the missing amount be the value of a business or perhaps debts? It seems unlikely that this would be tax on the Estate.

Thanks for your help.

[jeeb]

Hi Coseley,

The Gross value of his Estate is the total value of everything your Grandfather had a share in or owned at the time of his death. Net personal estate is the value left over when all deductions have been made and is the amount paid to the beneficiaries.

Jeremy

[coseley]

Thanks Jeremy,

I understand the difference between gross and net value, it is the substantial difference in this instance I am trying to account for. In 1911 he was living in a small terraced house which would have been valued at far less than £100. £1,357.16 is a large sum to "go missing". He appears to have been a churchgoing, good and simple living man and nothing in our family history suggests he had any debts. He was my great grandfather by the way. I was wondering if anyone out there could explain whether the money could have been tied up in a business which couldn't have been realized for some reason.

[Peter Goodey]

I think you'll find that there are two elements at work here.

1 Personal estate excludes real estate.

2 Gross value excludes debts.

[coseley]

Thank you once again Peter Goodey. You always come up with a helpful answer.