Lewis v Warner [2016] EWHC 1787 (Ch)
October 2016 #163A died on 6 May 2014. A reconstituted will admitted to probate left A’s only child (L) her entire estate comprising principally of her home (the property). A had lived in the property with her partner (S) for almost 20 years. S continued to live there after A died.
L, as executrix of A’s estate, issued a claim for possession of the property, damages for trespass and mesne profits against S. S issued an application under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. Both claims were heard before Recorder Christopher Gardner QC.
There was no real dispute as ...
Breslin v Bromley [2015] EWHC 3760 (Ch)
March 2016 #157Mr Breslin was the executor and beneficiary of the estate of his late aunt, Marjorie Beck (the deceased). He had taken the deceased to a firm of solicitors so that she could draw up the will. She executed the will elsewhere. Following her death, the second and third defendants challenged its validity. The third defendant also brought a claim of undue influence. The claimant brought a claim to propound the will and succeeded at trial. The second and third defendants argued that they should not have to bear the costs because the claimant had caused the litigation by failing to ensure the p...
Cadogan Petroleum plc & Ors v Mark Tolley & Ors [2011] EWHC 2286 (Ch)
November 2015 #154The claimants, who were a group of companies engaged in the business of exploration and exploitation of gas reserves in Ukraine, brought claims against, inter alia, the fourth and fifth defendants (Vivcharyk defendants), respectively the former chief operating officer and the company controlled by him, in relation to alleged bribes or secret commissions which, directly or indirectly, they received in connection with commercial contracts for the supply or acquisition by the Cadogan Group of drilling equipment and services, two gas plants and a company. Proceedings were issued on ...
The Law Society v Elsdon & ors [2015] EWHC 1326 (Ch)
November 2015 #154The first defendant practised as a solicitor under his own name until 2013. In that year he began to practise through the third defendant company, which was authorised as a ‘licensed body’ for the purposes of the Legal Services Act 2007. The directors of the third defendant were the first and second defendants.
On 8 December 2014 the Solicitors Regulation Authority decided to intervene in the practice of the first and third defendants and sent notices to the defendants advising them of this.
The decision of the adjudication panel recorded that it decide...
Birdseye & anr v Roythorne & Co & ors [2015] EWHC 1003 (Ch)
July/August 2015 #151Roythorne & Co (Roythornes), a firm of solicitors, acted for Mr & Mrs Dring and, following his death on 28 September 2008, the executors of Mr Dring, Mr Pola and Mr Doubleday. Roythorne & Co (Roythornes), a firm of solicitors, acted for Mr & Mrs Dring and, following his death on 28 September 2008, the executors of Mr Dring, Mr Pola and Mr Doubleday. Mr & Mrs Dring were the only shareholders of Dring Bros Limited, which had acquired Manor Farm to enable Mrs Dring’s brother and sister in law (Mrs Cooke), who were the tenant farmers, to continue to live there. Roythornes...
Brudenell-Bruce v Moore & ors [2014] EWHC 3679 (Ch)
April 2015 #148The claimant, Mr Brudenell-Bruce Earl of Cardigan brought a claim for breach of trust against two trustees of the Savernake Estate Trust (Mr Moore and Mr Cotton) of which he is a beneficiary. He also challenged the trustees’ remuneration and sought their removal as trustees.
The estate consists of numerous properties including a mansion, Tottenham House with an adjacent stable block. The estate is held on trust for sale and within a partnership with 49% of the partnership belonging to Lord Cardigan absolutely and 51% held by the trustees of the Children’s Trust, the beneficiaries ...
Re Stolkin; Greaves v Stolkin [2013] EWHC 1140 (Ch)
December 2013 #135The deceased testator, Leslie Stolkin, (T) had two sons from his marriage, the defendant Gary (G) and Mark (M). T divorced their mother in 1989. In September 1997 Pauline Greaves the claimant, (P), also divorced, moved in with T as cohabitant and became financially dependent on him. In 2001, T executed a will effectively leaving his entire estate to G, and also naming him as sole executor and trustee unless he died before T in which case M, a successful and wealthy businessman, would inherit . The will made no provision for P, but T left some notes directing that she was to receive regul...
Al Khudairi & anr v Abbey Brokers Ltd & ors WTLR(w) 2010-05
Web OnlyLoan reclamation; brokerage; breach of fiduciary duty; dishonest assistance.
HC09C00434