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Jamie Randall examines a case of an aristocratic family estrangement and an adult claim under the 1975 Act ‘Although the starting point is testamentary freedom, there is no escaping that the purpose of the Act is to give effect to some sort of moral obligation to provide for surviving family members and dependants.’ In Wellesley …
Continue reading "The 1975 Act: Drink, drugs and bohemia"
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Geoffrey Shindler examines whether the current system does justice for children excluded from a parent’s will ‘The one thing that seems to be certain in English law is that this issue remains an important but entirely uncertain area.’ As Leo Tolstoy reminded us, in Anna Karenina, ‘All happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy …
Continue reading "Musings from Manchester: Unhappy families"
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William East reviews two recent cases on out-of-time 1975 Act claims with different outcomes ‘The decision that “excusable delay” should be for “weeks or, at most, months”, absent “highly exceptional factors”, begs the question of what those factors might be and whether this sets the bar too high given the shortness of the initial time …
Continue reading "The 1975 Act: The clock is ticking… or is it?"
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Scott Taylor and Oliver Black investigate the factors that will be taken into account when establishing domicile ‘The concepts of “residence” and “intention” are key in considering whether one has adopted (or abandoned) a domicile of choice.’ The High Court recently tried a preliminary issue in the case of Proles v Kohli [2018] as to …
Continue reading "Domicile: Should I stay or should I go?"
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Justin Holmes reports on a case concerning the making of a deathbed statutory settlement to avoid the intestacy rules ‘CF had never been able to express any wishes, feelings, beliefs or values about what should happen to his estate after his death, and the judge had to do his best to put himself into CF’s …
Continue reading "Court of Protection: Standing in the donor’s shoes"
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A recent case provides helpful guidance on the financial consequences of assisting suicide. Alexa Payet explains ‘The steps which Alex took prior to his death, in an attempt to support Sarah in this process after he was gone, were crucial to the success of the application and assisted the court in reaching a decision at …
Continue reading "Forfeiture: What relief?"
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Fiona Lawrence and Julia Hardy explore what it will take for a court to allow a very late amendment to a will challenge claim ‘It is clear from the various authorities that each case turns on its own facts, and that best practice in assessing the merits of each application is to attempt to conduct …
Continue reading "Contested wills: Late for a very important date"
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Ian Macdonald provides a comparison of the English and Scottish procedures for executors ‘The IHT400 and supplementary IHT forms request exact details of the estate assets and English executors have to complete all the forms in full. Scottish executors have however already set out all the assets and values in the C1.’ As in many …
Continue reading "Estate administration: North of the border"
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Sue Clark highlights the risks of LPAs and deputyships and what can be done to safeguard the donor ‘The lack of court supervision over LPAs makes donors vulnerable and at risk. Although deputyships offer a greater level of supervision and protection to Ps, financial abuse is still possible.’ Throughout this article the term ‘LPA’ is …
Continue reading "Deputyships and LPAs: Protecting the vulnerable?"
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Oliver Auld gives the lowdown on what happens to trusts in the event of a divorce ‘Trustees need to be aware of not only the range of orders the family courts can make in relation to trust assets, but also the strategies they should potentially be adopting in the best interest of their beneficiaries, both …
Continue reading "Divorce: A matter of trust"
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