Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Summer 2024 #195Anna Rea had made wills dated 29 May 1986 (the 1986 will) and 7 December 2015 (the 2015 will).
At first instance, Anna’s daughter (the appellant) claimed to propound the 2015 will in solemn form. Her brothers (the respondents) counterclaimed to set aside the 2015 will, alleging lack of testamentary capacity, want of knowledge and approval, undue influence, and fraudulent calumny. They sought to propound the 1986 will.
The claim had previously been tried and then appealed, ultimately to the Court of Appeal, where a retrial was ordered.
On the retrial, HHJ Hodge KC fou...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Winter 2023 #193The dispute concerned which will of the deceased, Anna Rea, should be admitted to probate. Her first will dated 29 May 1986 gave all of her property to such of her four children as should survive her, if more than one in equal shares absolutely, subject to them surviving her by 28 days (the 1986 will).
A more recent will dated 7 December 2015 (the 2015 will) was witnessed by the solicitor who prepared it and the deceased’s GP. It provided for the deceased’s house to be left to the claimant, on account of the care she had given the deceased, with the residue to be divided between h...
Ken To and Catherine Hau explore the success of challenges to wills based on fraudulent calumny in recent English jurisprudence It was not necessary for the party seeking to establish fraudulent calumny to prove that it was the only cause of the change in the testator’s intentions as to his or her testamentary dispositions. It …
Continue reading "Fraudulent calumny: Setting aside wills obtained by lies"
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Will cases involving the allegation of fraud are on the rise. Laura Abbott explores the legal principles behind the latest decision With the ability of experts to detect even the slightest of differences in paper and ink, and the evidence available from technology such as CCTV and social media, as these cases have shown, it …
Continue reading "Will validity: Losing face"
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Laura Abbott sets out what needs to be considered when challenging the validity of a will prepared by a professional ‘The court will require the strongest of evidence to find a will to be invalid and it is extremely difficult to succeed where the medical records and solicitors’ evidence are all supportive of validity.’ As …
Continue reading "Wills: A risky business"
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John Ward-Prowse reports on a case that provides useful points to cover when a new will cuts out family members ‘It was not the judge’s task to decide whether the 2015 will was justified or fair. He was only required to decide if it was valid, which he did.’ Anna Rea was 85 when she …
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