Bathurst v Chantler & ors [2018] WTLR 1207
Winter 2018 #170The claimant was the second wife and widow of the Earl Bathurst (Eighth Earl). The first to third defendants were the trustees of the Earl’s Fund (EFT) created under a statutory Codicil made on behalf of the Eighth Earl by the Court of Protection. The fourth to seventh defendants were the trustees of the Earl Bathurst 1963 estate settlement (settlement). When the Earl succeeded to his title in 1943, his inheritance included a large estate comprising 15,000 acres and a mansion house known as Cirencester Park. There were also chattels that included valuable works of art and collections of ...
Re McKeen [2013] EWHC 3639 (Ch)
April 2014 #138The main action was a contentious probate dispute in which the defendant, who was the younger sister of the deceased, sought to overturn all of his five wills on the grounds of lack of testamentary capacity. The deceased had suffered from severe schizophrenia throughout his lifetime. The claimants were the residuary legatees of his final will, entitling them to the lion-share of the deceased’s considerable estate. In his main judgment, the judge accepted that the deceased’s condition was severe. He acknowledged that this placed the burden of proof on the claimants to establis...
The Vegetarian Society v Scott [2013] EWHC 4097 (Ch)
April 2014 #138This was a contentious probate action against all five of the wills of a schizophrenic testator. While he had benefitted from a stable and conventional childhood, the deceased had sustained serious injuries at the age of nineteen in a serious bicycle accident. He soon after succumbed to the symptoms of severe schizophrenia and logical thought disorder, from which he suffered for the remainder of his lifetime. His modes of living were unconventional. He lived alone on the fringes of society, and despite his considerable wealth, he lived in basic, if not squalid conditions. While it was ac...
Lines v Porter & ors [2011] EWHC 2310 (Ch)
May 2012 #119Mr and Mrs L made wills in mirror terms leaving the property that they owned as tenants in common and which was their only substantial asset on trust for the survivor to live in and thereafter to Mrs L’s children from a previous relationship. There were substitutionary provisions that benefited one of Mrs L’s grandchildren, his father, Mrs L’s son, having died.
Mrs L died. Mr L brought rectification proceedings under s20 of the Administration of Justice Act 1982 on the basis that Mrs L had not intended for his life interest to be cut down on his...