Marley v Rawlings & anr [2014] WTLR 299

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | March 2014 #137

Mr 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...

Curati v Perdoni & anr [2012] EWCA Civ 1381

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | January/February 2013 #126

Pierluigi Curati (Mr Curati) had a domicile of origin in Italy. He moved with his wife (Mrs Curati), a British national, to England in 1955. Mr and Mrs Curati ran a family restaurant (inherited from Mrs Curati’s parents) until 1970, when they sold the restaurant and invested the proceeds in real property which added to the property portfolio which they had already started to build up in England. They also held real property in Italy which they rented to third parties. On 18 December 1980, Mr and Mrs Curati made formal mirror wills in England, drawn in English which were limited t...

Perdoni & anr v Curati [2011] EWHC 3442 (Ch)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | April 2012 #118

Perluigi Curati (Mr Curati), who had a domicile of origin in Italy, came to England in April 1955 from Carpaneto to work for his future parents-in-law, who ran a restaurant in Camden. They had previously emigrated from the same town but their daughter was born in England. Mr Curati married Mrs Curati (née Perdoni) in July 1955 and shortly afterwards took over the running of the restaurant, which they eventually sold in the late 1970s. They invested the proceeds in the purchase of real property, to add to a portfolio of investment properties that they had started to build up in England. I...