I WANT to make a will to leave all my money to charities as I don't wish to give my relatives or ex-husband more than they have.

I am divorced, have one son and two sisters. Can any of them contest the will?

Assuming you're not mentally incapacitated or under any undue influence, you can make whatever will you like.

The siblings have no claim, but your son does have a legal claim.

He is not entitled to your house if you make a will leaving it to someone else, but he can claim up to half of whatever money and investments there are after debts have been paid. You may wish to see a lawyer for estate planning to minimise the share your son can get. Your ex gets nothing anyway.

I HAVE been separated for three years. Unfortunately, my ex-husband moved to Ireland leaving no forwarding address.

How do I go about finding him or getting a divorce without his consent, and how long do I need to wait?

Finding him may not be so difficult. We use tracing agents (detectives to you and me) who can usually find a person quite quickly and at a moderate fee. But whether or not you find him, you are entitled to raise a divorce action (and in Scotland, even though he is in Ireland) based on your separation being for more than two years.

If he cannot be traced before that, the court may require you to advertise the case in a newspaper, but you cannot be held hostage in the marriage forever.

MY wife and I are separating, and she says she wants the house sold so she can get half the value.

But I bought the house before I met her and was in it for months before we started living together.

If your home was not bought with the intention there and then that it was to become a family home, your wife has no right to it.

But even if she has a small claim on a share of its increase in value during the marriage, you should not be forced to sell, especially if you have children living there, or at least until they are grown up.

I WAS hurt in an accident -the bus I was on had to brake to avoid a collision with a car.

It was two years ago and although we wrote to the bus company at the time, we have not really followed it up.

Are we too late to do something about it now?

I still get twinges in my leg and hip.

No, you still have some time but you must get the case either settled or at least started in court before the end of three years or it is fatally time-barred.

You are entitled to compensation, but must be sure whose fault it was - the bus driver for not paying attention, or the car driver for getting in the way.