‘In this article, JJ Liew examines the case of Bowser v Smith, with a focus on the Court of Appeal’s discussion of the conduct expected of the parties in the handling of contentious probate litigation.’
New Square Chambers, 3rd October 2023
Source: www.newsquarechambers.co.uk
‘Lumb v Lumb [2023] EWHC 2052 (Ch) was an appeal on costs which sheds interesting light on how general rules of the CPR fit together with special provisions governing probate disputes. On a related note, it offers a case study of how the modern ethos of deterring dubious litigation can interact with legal principles of an earlier vintage. There were various other points of interest in the case, but I focus here on this theme.’
Wilberforce Chambers, 30th October 2023
Source: www.wilberforce.co.uk
‘A majority of private client lawyers believe the new online probate process is taking longer than the old paper-based system, a survey by the Law Society has found.’
Legal Futures, 18th October 2023
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is keen to hear about people’s experiences with firms offering these services, over concerns that not all are complying with consumer protection law.’
Family Law, 7th August 2023
Source: www.familylaw.co.uk
‘A law firm which started proceedings when its client did not have standing to bring them has been ordered to pay wasted costs because it failed to check this.’
Legal Futures, 21st April 2023
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Naidoo v Barton [2023] EWHC 500 (Ch) clarifies an important, and hitherto unresolved, issue concerning the doctrine of mutual wills. The court determined that it is the Etridge test for undue influence, applicable to challenging life time transactions, that applies when considering whether or not a mutual wills agreement should be set aside and not the more stringent probate test that generally applies where a will is challenged on the grounds of undue influence.’
Gatehouse Chambers, 12th March 2023
Source: gatehouselaw.co.uk
‘It’s becoming more and more common to see disputes over inheritance. In 2019, 188 cases of challenging Wills reached the High Court, a dramatic increase of 47% from cases in 2018. In fact, it is now estimated that 3 in 4 people are likely to encounter such a dispute within their lifetimes. It is more important than ever therefore to be aware of the grounds upon which a Will may be challenged.’
Mills & Reeve, 16th January 2023
Source: www.mills-reeve.com
‘In Re the estate of Cooper, deceased (probate); Cooper (a child, by her litigation friend) and another v Chapman and others [2022] EWHC 1000 (Ch), a draft will found on the Deceased’s computer after his death could be admitted to probate as his last will in circumstances where the executed will could not be located, and the fact that it could not be located did not mean that it should be presumed to have been revoked by the Deceased.’
St John's Buildings, May 2022
Source: stjohnsbuildings.com
‘In Hughes v Pritchard and others [2022] EWCA Civ 386, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the trial judge in a probate claim (see Hughes v Pritchard and others [2021] EWHC 1580 (Ch)) that a testator lacked testamentary capacity, concluding that the judge’s findings on that subject were “not open to him on the evidence”.’
St John's Buildings, 4th April 2022
Source: stjohnsbuildings.com
‘The way a solicitor went about preparing a £100m will was “reckless and quite possibly dishonest”, the High Court ruled yesterday.’
Legal Futures, 1st February 2022
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Justice secretary Dominic Raab is “in the market for something quite drastic and bold” to reduce the number of private law family cases in the courts, he said yesterday.’
Legal Futures, 1st December 2021
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The Royal Family in modern times live very public lives. Core members seem to have been bred in captivity, like exotic fish in an open aquarium, some of whose waters are murkier than others, but almost all of which will sooner or later be publicly visible.’
Transparency Project, 26th September 2021
Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk
‘The High Court has thrown out the suggestion that a judge was biased against three litigants in person, saying the deputy master was stern and showed signs of impatience but handled the case in a “fair and open-minded way.”‘
Law Society's Gazette, 16th April 2021
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Holding a trial over the validity of a will remotely may have helped a witness admit that the contents of his affidavit were not true, the High Court has suggested.’
Litigation Futures, 30th March 2021
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘Last year there were two reported decisions in respect of the forfeiture rule. These are worth mention given the rarity of reported cases in this area.’
Parklane Plowden Chambers, 17th February 2021
Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk
‘Two validity cases in particular stood out last year and both turned on whether or not a testator suffered from “insane delusions” rendering their wills invalid. There are fewer reported cases giving guidance on this strand of the Banks v Goodfellow test (most cases I deal with revolve around old age psychiatry) so these recent cases are worth some scrutiny.’
Parklane Plowden Chambers, 12th February 2021
Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk
‘There has unsurprisingly been an uprise in the number of people making wills since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, though social distancing measures have created problems for people in terms of complying with the witnessing requirements of section 9 of the Wills Act 1837 (“the Wills Act”).’
Parklane Plowden, 10th November 2020
Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk
‘The High Court has ruled that there was no need for a more expensive City lawyer to be appointed a professional executor in preference to one from the Home Counties in a straightforward probate.’
Legal Futures, 4th November 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘With probate applications now taking three times longer to approve, more than 8,000 estates remain unclaimed.’
The Independent, 6th October 2020
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘There is no doubt that contentious probate work is growing. We do not like paying more than a couple of hundred pounds for a will, but then are seemingly happy to spend thousands taking our relatives to court, and the two do not sit happily together.’
Legal Futures, 6th July 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
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