Easingwood v Cockroft & ors 2013 BCCA 182
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | December 2016 #165Reginald Easingwood (Reginald) was married to Kathleen Easingwood (Kathleen) from 1983. He had four children by his first wife, who had died in 1976. In April 2001, Reginald executed an enduring power of attorney in favour of his two children acting together. Three years later, in March 2004, Reginald made a will. Under that will, Kathleen was to have an entitlement to income in a fund of $525,000 (plus adjustment for each year), which upon her death would be divided between his children, his step children, and his grandchildren. He also gave his wife a life interest in the matrimonial h...
Re AMH [2015] EWCOP 70
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | May 2016 #159AMH was born on 31 October 1936. She lived with her husband in Greenwich until 1999, when they retired and moved to Kent. They had three children, Audrey, Kevin, and Robbie. Robbie died in 2005. Robbie’s son Rocky lived with AMH between 1990 and 2013, and was very close to her. AMH’s husband died in 2007. AMH suffered from Lewy Body dementia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and epilepsy, and lived in a nursing home in Westgate-on-Sea. Her care was funded by NHS Continuing Health Care.
On 18 March 2002, AMH and her husband made mirror wills in which they left thei...
Re Jones [2014] EWCOP 59
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | May 2016 #159Mr Jones suffered from dementia and lacked testamentary capacity and capacity to make significant lifetime gifts. He had an estate of approximately £2.3m and was intestate. The effect of his dying intestate would be that, following the statutory legacy of £250,000 plus personal chattels to his wife, Mrs Jones, outright, Mrs Jones would receive half of the remainder of the estate absolutely and his daughter from a previous relationship, Ms Dawson, would receive the other half of the estate.
Ms Dawson’s mother and Mr Jones had separated when she was a child whereupon Ms Dawson...
Re H [2015] EWCOP 52
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | April 2016 #158H, who was stillborn, was diagnosed as autistic and had poor cognitive functioning and adaptive skills, almost unintelligible speech and limited communicative ability. An only child, now aged 26 years, she lived with her parents, F and M. On 6 August 2014 they applied to be appointed jointly and severally as H’s deputies for property and affairs and personal welfare. At the same time, they applied for the appointment of three successive deputies – A, B and C, all of whom were younger, female (two of them maternal aunts) and well known to H. On 6 January 2015 an order was made, on t...
Ross v A [2015] EWCOP 46
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | April 2016 #158A, who was 18 years old, had received £5,000,000 in settlement of a claim for clinical negligence which had left her with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, cortical blindness, severe intellectual impairment and extreme behavioural problems. She lived at home with her parents and siblings. A professional with 25 years’ experience, David Ross of Simpson Millar, Solicitors, was appointed by the Court of Protection as deputy for her property and affairs. B, who was A’s brother, had not progressed at primary school as well as he could have during the build up to the trial in the High Cour...
Re Paw [2015] EWCOP 57
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | December 2015 #155This was the application by ARW for an order appointing himself and two others, SJ and BQ, jointly to be deputies for property and financial affairs of his wife PAW who was unable to make decisions relating to her property. SJ and BQ were relatives of PAW who were close to her. ARW’s health had deteriorated since the application had been made and he was suffering from dementia.
The application was opposed by IW, one of ARW and PAW’s sons. IW objected to ARW being a deputy on the basis that he could not remember continuity of facts. IW objected to SJ on the basis sh...
Julia Lomas v AK (Gift Application) [2014] EWCOP B11
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | June 2015 #150This was an application by the deputy of an 11 year-old boy (AK) for a gift of £150,000 to be made by him to his parents from the damages awarded to AK under a settlement of a clinical negligence claim brought by his mother acting as his litigation friend against the local NHS Trust in 2009.
AK was born in October 2002 and suffers from cerebral palsy as a result of a prolonged period of hypoxia at the time of his birth. In 2009, the High Court approved a settlement in his favour of the clinical negligence claim. The settlement included a lump sum payment of £1,050,000 plus the fol...
A County Council v MS & anr 11413486
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | July/August 2014 #141This was an application by a local authority property and affairs deputy seeking a direction whether to authorise a gift MS wished to make. MS was a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints (the church) and wished to donate £6,832 to the church as a tithe. This sum represented 10% of a recent inheritance. RS was MS’s mother and strongly opposed to the donation. MS made his own application seeking declarations that he had capacity to litigate, capacity to make a tithe, capacity to manage his own property and affairs and capacity to execute a LPA for property and affairs.
MS...
Re M 12268561
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | May 2013 #129M was 70, lived in London and was a successful lawyer and businessman. He suffered a heart attack and then a stroke in December 2012 while abroad on business. This led to M becoming mentally incapacitated although this was not likely to be permanent. N made an application to the court to be appointed as M’s deputy. N was M’s good friend, he lived abroad and was a successful businessman. He had worked with M for many years and had assisted M for some time with the management of his business and financial affairs. N was appointed to act for M under a general power of attorney e...