Archibald & anr v Stewart & anr [2024] WTLR 1
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Spring 2024 #194Rosemary and Malcolm were the adoptive parents of Neil and his younger brother Michael. Neil married Julie in 1999 and they had two children, who were young adults by the time of the hearing. Rosemary died on 10 June 2014 and Malcolm on 14 January 2021. Neil died on 25 June 2023 after proceedings had been issued.
Rosemary and Malcolm made wills in similar terms on 26 May 2009. Rosemary made a codicil dated 23 May 2014. Both left pecuniary legacies with the residue to be held under discretionary trusts for three classes of beneficiaries: a) the surviving spouse; b) their children a...
Batstone v Batstone [2022] WTLR 835
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Autumn 2022 #188The claim was brought pursuant to s1(1)(c) of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 against the estate of John Nicholas Batstone Deceased (the deceased). The claimant was the deceased’s adult daughter by his first marriage. The defendant was the deceased’s widow and executor.
The deceased died on 31 March 2019, domiciled in England and Wales and leaving a will dated 2 December 2017. The total net value of the estate was £326,121, consisting of:
- (i) a 50% share in a residential property, co-owned with the defendant and valued ...
Kaur v Bolina & anr [2022] WTLR 235
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Spring 2022 #186The claimant and the deceased were married in 2012. In 2014, the deceased petitioned for divorce and also executed a will by which he bequeathed his entire estate to his children, the defendants, leaving express wishes that the claimant should not benefit from his estate. However, he and the claimant were then reconciled and the petition withdrawn. In 2018, the deceased again petitioned for divorce, and in February 2019 he and the claimant separated with the claimant leaving the deceased’s property in Edgar Road, London, but the deceased died on 30 September 2019 before any decree. The f...
Sismey v Salandron [2022] WTLR 281
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Spring 2022 #186H was married to W, and they had a son, T. They all lived in a property in Derbyshire (the property), which was owned by H. While T was a child and H was working abroad, H met M in the Philippines and formed a relationship with her. H and W separated, and W and T moved out of the property and into one owned by W. H retained the property as his home when in the UK. H and M had a child, J, and after that H, M and J moved to live together in the UK, in the property.
W petitioned for a divorce from H and a consent order in the financial remedy proceedings was approved by the judge and...
J & anr v S & ors [2021] WTLR 569
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Summer 2021 #183The claimants, being the children of the deceased, brought a claim for provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. The deceased, their father, had been diagnosed with an incurable lung disease in 2004. The claimants’ parents had divorced in 2012. Their mother remarried shortly thereafter and relocated with the claimants to Scotland. The father had maintained weekly telephone contact with the claimants for a short period, but had paid no maintenance or child support, with the mother and her new husband paying for the claimants’ priv...
Ubbi & anr v Ubbi [2018] WTLR 1039
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Autumn 2018 #173M and S married in September 2000. They had met in 1987, purchased their first home together in 1988 and developed a business (WP Ltd) together. S had a child from a previous relationship, whom M had treated as his own daughter. M and S had a child (J) together in 1994; J suffered from hemiplegia, paralysis to one side of the body, and learning difficulties. In 2007, B started working with M and they started an affair. In 2010 M made his will, appointing S to be his executor and leaving his estate to her. At about the same time M and S bought another property, Poplar Court. In 2012 M and...
Lloyd v Ayres [2018] WTLR 521
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Summer 2018 #172The deceased died in January 2008 and letters of administration were granted later that month. The deceased’s death was unexpected, and within a year of her remarriage to the defendant A, which had revoked her previous will leaving her property to her previous spouse and her children. The claimant, L, a son of the deceased, was 17 when the deceased died, and had some mental health difficulties. He was permitted to continue to live in the deceased’s home with his brother and A for some years, until 2014. L was an in-patient in a mental hospital for a time during 2015, and first sought leg...
Sargeant v Sargeant & anr [2018] WTLR 1451
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Winter 2018 #170Joe Sargeant (the deceased) died on 10 May 2005 leaving a will dated 20 February 2002. He left a surviving spouse, Audrey Sargeant (who was known as Mary), and two children, Jeff and Jane. By the will, he left his guns and fishing equipment to Jeff and the balance of his personal chattels and the benefit of a life policy worth £75,000 to Mary. The remainder of his estate was left to his trustees on discretionary trust. The class was limited to Mary, Jane and Jane’s issue. His estate was valued at just over £3.2m.
Mary brought a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family...
Badenach & anr v Calvert [2017] WTLR 873
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Autumn 2017 #169The first appellant was a legal practitioner and a partner of the second appellant, a law firm. The solicitor received instructions from Jeffrey Doddridge (who was 77 years old at the time) to prepare his will, by which the entirety of his estate was to pass to the respondent, Roger Calvert, whom Mr Doddridge treated as his son. Mr Doddridge made no provision for his daughter by his first marriage. She brought a claim under the Testator’s Family Maintenance Act 1912 (Tas) (the TFM Act), and was successful in obtaining a court order that provision be made out of the clients estate. The co...
Ball & ors v Ball & ors [2017] WTLR 891
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Autumn 2017 #169The Deceased was married to James Ball. They had had eleven children, including the three claimants and eight of the nine defendants. In or around 1991, the family split, when the three claimants reported their father to the police for sexually abusing them when they were younger. The Deceased felt that the complaints were exaggerated, and was annoyed that they had been made public. As a result, on 27 May 1992 the Deceased made a will excluding those three claimants from benefit, dividing her estate between her eight remaining children and one of her grandsons. The will was professional ...