Wills & Trusts Law Reports | April 2015 #148Elizabeth Jane Walker (Mrs Walker) was born on 25 March 1956. She married John Walker in 1981, and with him she had two daughters, Jennifer and Alison. In 2007, she left her husband and began to live with Michael Badmin (Mr Badmin).
On 20 June 2009, Mrs Walker was diagnosed with a terminal, malignant brain tumour. Following the prescription of medication, she began to suffer from symptoms of psychosis. However, her condition gradually improved, and she was discharged from hospital on 20 July 2009. Mrs Walker’s health begun to deteriorate in Autumn 2009. By October, she was bed-bou...
Walker v Badmin has clarified the correct test for testamentary capacity. Araba Taylor explains ‘The clarity offered by the Walker judgment is very welcome, given the conflict between earlier first instance decisions and what the judge described as the “rather ambivalent view” in the textbooks.’ It is now settled: the test for testamentary capacity in …
Continue reading "Testamentary Capacity: Banking on Banks v Goodfellow"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | June 2014 #140The claimants were the representatives of Louise Beck (Louise)’s family in Germany. Louise died on 17 January 2011 and the claimants sought a declaration that Louise had died intestate and that the two wills which she had executed on 1 March 2009 (the first will) and 2 May 2010 (the second will) were invalid.
Louise held substantial assets in both England and Germany, mainly comprising real estate and cash. The wills purported to deal with all of her assets in both jurisdictions. If the wills were found to be invalid then the English estate would pass to her surviving niece...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | May 2014 #139Mrs Eileen Rand died on 4 November 2007 aged 79 having executed two wills during her lifetime – one dated 20 June 2007 and the other 18 December 1969.
Mrs Rand had two siblings – Horace (known as Bill) and Derek. Bill married twice, the second time to Mrs Rand’s best friend since school Lillian (known as Pat).
In 1967 at the age of 38 Mrs Rand married for the first and only time to Edward Rand (known as Ted). Ted was already a widower and much older than Mrs Rand. Ted died after 18 months of marriage and left his entire estate including the martial home to Mrs Rand. Ted had...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | April 2014 #138This was a challenge to the purported will of Mrs Naseem Syed Khan (the deceased) on the basis that it was a forgery. The deceased died on 17 July 2008. Mr Jafar Ali Khan (Mr Khan) was the deceased’s husband. Mr Khan had survived the deceased and had taken out letters of administration in respect of her estate on the basis that she had died intestate. Mr Khan died on 8 January 2011 leaving a will dated 2 September 2010.
Mr Syed Ali Haider (the claimant) was the deceased’s nephew. Mr Mehdi Hassan Syed (the defendant) was the sole executor and main beneficiary of the la...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | March 2014 #137Mr Alfred Rawlings and his wife Maureen Rawlings instructed a solicitor to draft their wills in mirror form. Each spouse intended to leave his or her entire estate to the survivor of them, but provided that, should the other have predeceased or survived them for less than a month, their estates should be left to the appellant, who was not related to them but whom they treated as their son. Mr and Mrs Rawlings’ solicitor attended them on 17 May 1999 to enable a due execution of draft wills containing these provisions. By an oversight, their solicitor gave each spouse the other’s draft wil...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | January/February 2014 #136John Pearce (Mr Pearce) died on 23 July 2008. His daughter, the claimant, challenged the validity of a will purportedly made by Mr Pearce on 20 June 2007 (the will) on grounds of lack of capacity and want of knowledge and approval, and also challenged a number of lifetime transactions said to be procured by the defendant’s undue influence.
Mr Pearce’s second marriage broke down in 2004 and he consequently became lonely and depressed. His health was generally deteriorating. He suffered from partial kidney failure, which was first noted in March 2005, and by 2006 from s...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | December 2013 #135The deceased testator, Leslie Stolkin, (T) had two sons from his marriage, the defendant Gary (G) and Mark (M). T divorced their mother in 1989. In September 1997 Pauline Greaves the claimant, (P), also divorced, moved in with T as cohabitant and became financially dependent on him. In 2001, T executed a will effectively leaving his entire estate to G, and also naming him as sole executor and trustee unless he died before T in which case M, a successful and wealthy businessman, would inherit . The will made no provision for P, but T left some notes directing that she was to receive regul...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | November 2013 #134Mrs Constance Rose Simon died on 15 January 2009 at the age of 91. She was the widow of Mr R W Simon, with whom she had four children: namely Jonathan, Robert, Hilary and David. David predeceased his mother on 1 November 2004.
Mrs Simon’s estate consisted of her house in St John’s Wood, London (valued at £1.75m), a flat in Westcliffe on Sea (valued at £262,500), savings and shares (worth £55,000), some land in Malta and 16 shares in R W Simon Ltd (the company).
By Mrs Simon’s will dated 23 March 1978, she had left her entire estate to her four children i...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | October 2013 #133Mrs Louisa Ashkettle (the testatrix) died on 27 September 2007, aged 86. She left two wills dated 2 October 1986 and 18 January 1999. While the 1986 will left everything equally between her two sons (the claimants) and her daughter (the respondent), the 1999 will (the will) left everything to the respondent. The claimants stated that:
- (i) the will was not properly executed;
- (ii) the testatrix lacked testamentary capacity at its execution;
- (iii) the testatrix did not know and approve the contents of the will; and
- (iv) if their assertions at (ii)...
