15/06/2026
In 1876, when William Blackhurst opened his practice on Church Street, making a will was something only those with property to pass on really considered. Married women could not even own property in their own right until 1882, and the intestacy rules of the time were built around male heirs.
150 years on, the basic framework set out in the Wills Act 1837 is still recognisable today, but almost everything around it has changed. The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 gave courts the power to step in where a will, or the intestacy rules, left a spouse, child or other dependant without proper provision. Lasting Powers of Attorney, introduced in 2005, created a way to plan ahead for incapacity that simply did not exist in the Victorian era.
One thing that has not changed as much as people often assume: cohabiting partners still have no automatic right to inherit under the intestacy rules, regardless of how long the relationship has lasted. It remains one of the most common misconceptions in estate planning, and one of the strongest reasons to make a will.
We have taken a look at how wills, probate and inheritance have evolved across our 150 years in Blackpool.
Read the full article here: https://www.blackhurstbudd.co.uk/industry-news/2026/6/15/150-years-of-wills-probate-and-inheritance-how-much-has-changed
