Brealey v Shepherd & Co [2022] WTLR 17
Spring 2022 #186The claimant applied for detailed assessment of the defendant’s costs incurred in the administration of a deceased’s estate under s71(3) of the Solicitors Act 1974.
Ann Brealey died on 15 April 2014. Her will left the claimant as the main beneficiary. It named her brother, Peter Hayward, and Robin Peter Shepherd, a solicitor, as the executors and trustees of her will. The executors instructed the defendant firm to administer the deceased’s estate. Mr Shepherd was one of the two partners in that firm. The defendant’s bills for the administration of the estate had ...
Brealey v Shepherd & Co (2) [2022] WTLR 27
Spring 2022 #186The proceedings concerned detailed assessment as part of a beneficiary’s challenge to the legal costs incurred in the administration of the estate of his late mother. The point of dispute considered in the judgment was the fees raised by one of the two executors, Mr Shepherd, who was a solicitor. It was common ground that the will did not contain a charging clause. Mr Shepherd relied on a number of arguments. He argued that his appointment was a personal one, irrespective of him being a solicitor, and that both executors were entitled to be reimbursed their expenses incurred in fair exec...