Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Autumn 2024 #196The deceased passed away aged 97 on 21 January 2022. On 1 May 2020 he had purported to execute a will. At that time there were extant proceedings before the Court of Protection seeking an assessment of his capacity to manage his own affairs and expressing concern that he was being exploited by two of his children (the first and second defendants). On 24 April 2020 the Court of Protection made a declaration that there was reason to believe he lacked capacity to manage his own affairs and ordered an assessment.
The claimant was another of the deceased’s children and had been express...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Autumn 2024 #196The deceased died in 2020 at the age of 91. He had three children, one of whom had predeceased him in 2015. The defendants were the deceased’s surviving children, the personal representatives of the deceased’s estate, and the equal beneficiaries of the residuary estate pursuant to a will made in 2018. The claimants were the granddaughters of the deceased (the children of his predeceased son). A family rift opened in 2015 following the death of the deceased’s son. The claimants contended that:
- (a) the deceased lacked testamentary capacity;
- (b) he did not know and app...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Summer 2022 #187This action related to a transfer in September 2009 of shares in five Saudi Arabian banks, then collectively worth about US$318m, by Mr Maan Al-Sanea (who at that time held those shares) to Samba Financial Group (Samba). The claimants were the liquidators of Saad Investments Company Ltd (SICL). They alleged that Mr Al-Sanea had at the time of the transfer held those shares on trust for SICL. The claimants brought a number of different actions against Samba in respect of the transfer of the shares, formulating the case on various legal bases in the various different actions. The iteration...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Winter 2021 #185The claimant was the daughter of the deceased. The deceased had made a will dated 15 September 2017 of which the residuary beneficiary was D1, a friend of the deceased. A letter of intent stated that the claimant was not to benefit. The claimant, relying on medical evidence which included a poor score in a cognitive impairment screening test and a letter from the deceased’s GP opining that the deceased had likely suffered from dementia for a number of years before executing the 2017 will, challenged the 2017 will on the basis of a lack of testamentary capacity due to memory issues, and D...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Summer 2021 #183C and D1-D4 were the children of Mrs Veronica Cadogan (VC), who died in 2011. VC’s will left her residuary estate to them in equal shares. In 2013, C and D1 took letters of administration with the will annexed. They remained as administrators until they were replaced by D5 at the first case management hearing in the proceedings.
VC’s estate included 14 English properties. Following her death, each of C and D1-D4 had informally taken over or remained in control of one or more properties and either occupied or received rent from them. This continued during the period of ...
Kate Raybould looks at duplicity and art dealers ‘In 2016, the buyer raised doubts about the painting following an inspection by an independent expert. Sotheby’s carried out their own review and concurred that the painting was a forgery.’ Privilege has been through the wringer in recent times, largely coming under attack from disgruntled regulators keen …
Continue reading "Expert evidence: A not so old master"
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James Driver provides a reminder of the court’s powers over expert evidence ‘Disclosure can extend beyond an expert’s final or draft report, to other documents and correspondence in which an expert has expressed their opinion.’The recent decision in Allen Tod Architecture Ltd v Capita Property and Infrastructure Ltd [2016] serves as an important reminder that …
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Andrew Nicoll offers advice for quantifying earnings and planning the future career of an injured client ‘Very, very few claimants are genuinely aware of what might be available in terms of alternative career and how they might gain access to that new phase of their working life.’In many personal injury cases the most significant financial …
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Fiona Wood looks at the need to comply with the Family Procedure Rules 2010 and best practice when instructing experts in financial cases ‘It is not always possible to agree the joint letter of instruction to a single joint expert and the court may be asked to settle the letter of instruction.’It is often necessary …
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | July/August 2014 #141This was an application for permission to appeal from a decision of HHJ Seys Llewellyn QC in a case concerning wills. Peter Lewis contested the will of his father, Kenneth Lewis on the basis of undue influence and/or fraud. David Lewis, the beneficiary under the will, issued proceedings to determine the issue. The judge below found for David.
The application concerned Peter’s litigation capacity. Peter suffered from Asperger’s syndrome. In the earlier stages of the litigation Peter was in receipt of legal aid and represented by solicitors. At their request and on the basis of an e...
