Lonsdale & ors v Wedlake Bell LLP & ors [2024] WTLR 1007

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Autumn 2024 #196

The first claimant brought a claim in his individual capacity as settlor and trustee for professional negligence against the solicitors he had instructed in relation to a settlement made in 1987, which created a discretionary trust (the trust) in favour of a number of beneficiaries including the first claimant’s children. The first claimant intended to benefit his own children (the children) with his nieces/nephews as backstop beneficiaries should the trust in favour of the children fail. However the terms of the trust, which gave the beneficiaries the right to income when they attained ...

Dorey & ors v Ashton [2024] WTLR 121

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Spring 2024 #194

The plaintiffs were three of the four children of the deceased, who died in 2015. They contended that the deceased lacked capacity when making wills in 2004. Instructions for the wills had been taken by the defendant, who had prepared them and supervised their execution. Had the wills not been made, the deceased’s estate would have passed to the plaintiffs and their sibling, subject to a life interest in realty for the deceased’s widow; the effect of the wills was to confer on the widow additional benefits. Following the death of the deceased, the plaintiffs and their sibling challenged ...