Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Spring 2024 #194Rosemary and Malcolm were the adoptive parents of Neil and his younger brother Michael. Neil married Julie in 1999 and they had two children, who were young adults by the time of the hearing. Rosemary died on 10 June 2014 and Malcolm on 14 January 2021. Neil died on 25 June 2023 after proceedings had been issued.
Rosemary and Malcolm made wills in similar terms on 26 May 2009. Rosemary made a codicil dated 23 May 2014. Both left pecuniary legacies with the residue to be held under discretionary trusts for three classes of beneficiaries: a) the surviving spouse; b) their children a...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Spring 2023 #190The claimant had been married to the deceased for 11 years. The deceased took her own life on 11 April 2017. The claimant and the first and second defendants, the deceased’s siblings, were appointed executors of the deceased’s 2015 will. Probate was granted in April 2018.
On 27 August 2019, the claimant was removed as an executor of the 2015 will by the court. The claimant brought a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 against the estate of the deceased on 21 November 2019, which was opposed by the first and second defendants. The thi...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Spring 2023 #190On 13 May 2022 the applicant made an application by form N244 seeking permission to issue a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (the 1975 Act) out of time, pursuant to s4 of that Act. A grant of probate had been made on 20 September 2021, and so the period of six months from grant expired on 20 March 2022. The evidence in support of the application exhibited a draft Part 8 claim form and witness statement, unissued.
The explanation for the delay was a technological malfunction in the applicant’s solicitors’...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Winter 2022 #189The appellant was the widow of Mohammed Yousaf Khan (Mr Khan), who had died on 22 March 2015 without making any financial provision for her under the terms of his last will dated 11 February 2014 (the 2014 will). Instead, Mr Khan had left the entirety of his estate, after payment of debts and expenses, to his daughter and personal representative, the respondent. The appellant, who was elderly and disabled, had lived at 22 Lombard Avenue, Dudley (Lombard Avenue) since 1993.
Probate was granted on 11 April 2016 and solicitors instructed by the respondent wrote demanding possession o...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Spring 2022 #186The claimant and the deceased were married in 2012. In 2014, the deceased petitioned for divorce and also executed a will by which he bequeathed his entire estate to his children, the defendants, leaving express wishes that the claimant should not benefit from his estate. However, he and the claimant were then reconciled and the petition withdrawn. In 2018, the deceased again petitioned for divorce, and in February 2019 he and the claimant separated with the claimant leaving the deceased’s property in Edgar Road, London, but the deceased died on 30 September 2019 before any decree. The f...
Amy Berry provides practical points on seeking to extend time under s4 of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 It is of fundamental import to remember that the divorce fiction, to which the pre-acquired/non-matrimonial asset issue relates, is only one aspect of the s3 criteria that the court must weigh when considering …
Continue reading "The 1975 Act: Applying the principles"
This post is only available to members.
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Summer 2021 #183C was a brother of the deceased (PK). He was the executor of PK’s will and also a beneficiary. Ds were the adult children of PK’s sister. PK’s will divided the residue into ten equal shares (including a share for each of PK’s sister’s children). C brought a claim under s20 Administration of Justice Act 1982 (AJA 1982) for rectification of the will so that the residue would instead be divided into six equal shares (with one share being shared between PK’s sister’s children). The claim was opposed by D3 and D4.
PK ...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Summer 2020 #179A widow brought a claim for reasonable financial provision to be made for her from her late husband’s estate. The claim was brought 25 years and nine months after the six-month time limit mandated by s4 of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
At first instance Chief Master Marsh, exercising the broad discretion afforded by s4 of the 1975 Act, gave permission for the claim to be brought, notwithstanding the extremely long time since the six-month period had expired: see Bhusate v Patel.
The facts of the...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Spring 2020 #178The claimant, who was born in the Philippines, married Michael Frederick Hendry (the deceased) on 31 October 2003. He was 20 years older and already had three adult children. They entered into a pre-nuptial agreement which provided that in the event of the marriage failing the claimant would receive a lump sum of £10,000 and a one-way flight to the Philippines. In the event, they separated on 24 June 2016. The deceased made a will on 6 August 2016 dividing his residuary estate equally between the first and second defendants and appointing the third defendant as executor. The claimant pet...
Kelly v Brennan [2020] provides welcome guidance on whether the court can rectify a foreign will and on time limits. Josh Lewison explains ‘Rectification is often run in the alternative to a construction claim. Construction claims have no time limit, so that if the court were inflexible in granting time extensions, the temptation would be …
Continue reading "Rectification: Which law applies?"
This post is only available to members.
