“Family members who are snubbed in a relative’s will in favour of charities could find it easier to lay claim to the estate following a recent judgment.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 6th May 2011
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“We are told that writing a will is vital to secure the future of our loved ones. But many who set out with all the best of intentions, find that what should be a simple act is frustrated by ‘glaring errors’, pressure-selling, and over-inflated fees, according to the Law Society.”
The Guardian, 17th April 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Ilott v Mitson and others [2011] EWCA Civ 346; [2011] WLR (D) 119
“Where an adult child sought to claim against the estate of a deceased parent under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, the first stage was a value judgment as to whether or not the deceased’s dispositions made reasonable financial provision for the claimant. There was no obligation to balance the section 3 factors at that stage nor to explain why the combination of those factors led to a conclusion that no provision was unreasonable; what mattered was that the decision, taken as a whole, explained the conclusion reached.”
WLR Daily, 31st March 2011
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Please note that once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“Melita Jackson, who died in 2004 at the age of 70, left her estate of £486,000 to animal charities, making no provision for Heather Ilott, her only child. Three of the country’s most senior judges said Mrs Ilott, 50, should receive a share of the will, in a decision which could lead to more people challenging relatives’ bequests.”
Daily Telegraph, 1st April 2011
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Gill v Woodall and others [2010] EWCA Civ 1430; [2011] WLR (D) 328
“To determine whether a testatrix knew and approved the contents of her will the proper approach was to consider the factual and expert evidence and to ask whether the testatrix appreciated what was in the will when she signed it. It was not necessary to break down the issue into two separate questions of whether a prima facie case had been made out that the testatrix had not known or approved of the contents of her will and then whether the beneficiary had rebutted that case.”
WLR Daily, 15th December 2010
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.
“The RSPCA has lost a court of appeal challenge against a ruling that overturned a will leaving them a £2.35m farmhouse and land in Northallerton, North Yorkshire.”
The Guardian, 30th November 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The RSPCA today launched a high court challenge to a ruling that overturned a will leaving the charity a £2.35m estate after a daughter contested her parents’ legacy.”
The Guardian, 29th November 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A lengthy legal battle over the fortune of a ‘delusional’ multi-millionaire who believed he was the son of the last Tsarevich of Imperial Russia was finally settled by the High Court yesterday.”
Daily Telegraph, 23rd November 2010
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A father has gone to court claiming he deserves a greater share of his son’s £5 million inheritance left to him by his mother.”
Daily Telegraph, 12th November 2010
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A tiny Cornish community has won a partial victory in its fight against a leading public school.”
Daily Telegraph, 12th September 2010
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
In re Perrins, deceased; Perrins v Holland and others [2010] EWCA Civ 840; [2010] WLR (D) 196
“In a case where a testator had testamentary capacity when he gave instructions for his will, the will as drafted embodied those instructions and when the testator executed his will a year later his testamentary wishes remained unchanged although he was no longer of full testamentary capacity, the principle in Parker v Felgate (1883) LR 8 PD 171, namely that it was not necessary to prove knowledge and approval of a will provided that (a) the testator believed that it gave effect to his instructions and (b) that it did in fact do so, applied.”
WLR Daily, 22nd July 2010
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summay is removed.
“Judges are too quick to make wills for mentally ill or elderly people in favour of ‘Johnny-come-lately’ relatives, according to a legal expert.”
Daily Telegraph, 10th June 2010
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Roberts v Gill & Co [2010] UKSC 22; [2010] WLR (D) 130
“A beneficiary under a will who had commenced proceedings against solicitors he alleged had acted negligently in connection with the estate could not, after the relevant limitation period had expired, amend his claim so as to also claim on behalf of the estate by way of a derivative action.”
WLR Daily, 21st May 2010
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.
Key and another v Key and others [2010] EWHC 408 (Ch); [2010] WLR (D) 69
“Although affective disorder such as depression, including that caused by bereavement, was more likely to affect powers of decision-making than comprehension, the effect of bereavement on a testator’s mind was a factor to be taken into account when deciding whether he had capacity to make a will and was capable of impairing testamentary capacity.”
WLR Daily, 9th March 2010
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.
“The RSPCA has started an appeal five months after losing a court battle over a £2m estate left to it in a will.”
BBC News, 6th March 2010
“Two brothers will inherit their father’s Norfolk farm following a High Court dispute that has left the family riven by ‘suspicion and distrust.’ ”
BBC News, 5th March 2010
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Bee and another v Thompson [2009] EWCA Civ 1212; [2009] WLR (D) 345
“Where a bequest of land in adjacent parcels to different beneficiaries expressly provided that the owner of one parcel should enjoy a right of way over a track running over the other, but the vesting consents which conveyed the land to the beneficiaries did not grant such an easement, the will and the assents were to be construed together as a single transaction so as to give full effect to the testatrix’s intention. However such a right of way ‘at all times and for all purposes connected with’ the dominant tenement did not entitle the owner of that land to increase the user of the right of way from that associated with the agricultural purposes for which it had been used when the right of way had been granted to that associated with three houses.”
WLR Daily, 30th November 2009
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.
“A woman who contested her parents’ will after they left their £2.34m estate in North Yorkshire to the RSPCA has won her legal battle.”
BBC News, 9th October 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Doctors who allow suicidal patients to die because they have written a ‘living will’ could be breaking Government guidelines, Roman Catholic bishops claim.”
Daily Telegraph, 6th October 2009
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“The law on ‘living wills’ could be reviewed after a young woman used one to commit suicide, Andy Burnham, the Health Secretary, has said.”
Daily Telegraph, 4th October 2009
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
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