‘A former head of private client accused of overcharging an estate by up to £30,000 when acting as executor has been cleared of misconduct by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT).’
Legal Futures, 12th February 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘A partner who misled beneficiaries about the progress of a case to resolve a dispute over estate assets and then found himself “too embarrassed” to tell them the truth has been struck off.’
Legal Futures, 5th December 2019
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘A battle between a widow and stepson over a large estate “cries, indeed screams out” for the kind of “robust, judge-led” processes used to settle family law disputes, a High Court judge has said.’
Litigation Futures, 31st May 2019
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘Solicitors and legal academics have called for new powers enabling people to decide what happens to their digital legacy when they die, including by making a provision for online data to be included in wills.’
Law Society's Gazette, 7th June 2017
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘An exquisite £8 million Ming porcelain collection built up by a confidant of Margaret Thatcher has sparked a bitter legal feud which has torn apart a once close-knit family.’
Daily Telegraph, 9th March 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘Imagine an estate where there is no dispute amongst the beneficiaries, whether about the validity of the deceased’s will or its terms. Imagine that there is no inheritance tax to pay by reason of the death of the deceased. The bulk of the estate is held in a bank account that is accessible online and the executor named in the will is aware of the username and password applicable to this online account. He wishes to use them to transfer the money in the account to an account in his name and then to administer it precisely according to law.’
New Square Chambers, 29th June 2015
Source: www.newsquarechambers.co.uk
Birdseye and another v Roythorne & Co and others [2015] EWHC 1003 (Ch); [2015] WLR (D) 169
‘It remained the case that a person had to establish as a prima facie case that he was a beneficiary before there could be any question of the court requiring a trustee or executor to disclose documents which would be protected by privilege if the applicant were not a beneficiary.’
WLR Daily, 15th April 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘The former coroner for Carmarthenshire who stole £1m from a dead man’s estate to “prop up” his struggling law firm has been jailed for five years.’
BBC News, 14th November 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Jimmy Savile died on 29 October 2011. The current value of his estate, after allowing for a range of expenses that have been incurred, was about £3.3 million. Jimmy Savile left a will. The executor of the will and Jimmy Savile’s personal representative was National Westminster Bank plc (“the Bank”). Various individuals were named in the will as beneficiaries (“the individual beneficiaries”). These included a small number of close relatives and friends, each of whom was given a relatively modest bequest. However, under the will, the bulk of the residue of Jimmy Savile’s estate was left to the Jimmy Savile Charitable Trust (“the Trust”). That Trust was intended to serve a number of very worthwhile and valid charitable causes, including Help for Heroes.’
Sovereign Chambers, 19th March 2014
Source: www.sovereignchambers.co.uk
‘A Gloucestershire solicitor who also served as the county’s coroner has been struck off after taking nearly £2m from clients to fund an extravagant lifestyle.’
Legal Futures, 11th March 2014
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘Victims of serial sex offender Jimmy Savile are a step closer to getting compensation after a judge sanctioned a scheme to award payouts.’
Daily Telegraph, 26th February 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
In re Robson, decd; White v Matthys and others [2014] WLR (D) 54
‘A residuary legatee’s chose in action was “property” for the purposes of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. Therefore, where a person who was not a permissible donor left the residue of his estate to a registered political party, and that party received and accepted the gift, the prohibition on foreign donations in section 54 of the 2000 Act was breached.’
WLR Daily, 31st January 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘A will writer who stole more than £280,000 from clients over nearly three years has been found guilty of fraud.’
BBC News, 4th February 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A coroner has pleaded guilty to a £2 million fraud which saw him steal some of the money from the estates of the dead.”
Daily Telegraph, 17th October 2013
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Section 50 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985, which contained a power to replace or remove personal representatives, applied to a person named as an executor in a will but who had not been granted probate.”
WLR Daily, 18th May 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Wright and another v Gater and another; [2011] EWHC 2881 (Ch); [2011] WLR (D) 318
“The court should not in principle regard the postponement of the vesting of an estate as ‘beneficial’.”
WLR Daily,7th November 2011
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Shovelar and others v Lane and others [2011] EWCA Civ 802; [2011] WLR (D) 224
“The question of the effect of mutual wills upon the distribution of an estate under a later will which was admitted to probate was a matter for the Chancery Division, applying the law of trusts, and it was not a matter of probate law and practice. Accordingly, the unsuccessful executors in an action of that nature were not entitled to rely upon the ‘probate rule’ so as to justify departure from the usual costs rule.”
WLR Daily, 12th July2011
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
“Where a sole residuary legatee under a will became bankrupt but was automatically discharged from bankruptcy before the completion of the administration of the estate of the testator, the money and assets which were thereafter ascertained to form the net residuary estate were payable to his trustee in bankruptcy.”
WLR Daily, 13th November 2008
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
Caudle v LD Law Ltd [2008] EWHC 374 (QB); WLR (D) 78
“A person who intends to exercise his entitlement to apply for a grant of letters of administration of an estate does not have an enforceable right to immediate possession of property formerly owned by the deceased unless it is necessary that he takes possession to safeguard the estate.”
WLR Daily, 10th March 2008
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
Protecting creditors
Chancery Division
“When deciding whether to sanction payment by the administrators of an estate to admitted creditors and the subsequent distribution to beneficiaries without reference to disputed and potential creditors’ claims, the court should consider whether any, and if so what protection should be afforded to the potential creditors.”
The Times, 16th April 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
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