Begum v Ahmed [2022] WTLR 1189
Winter 2022 #189The appellant was the widow of Mohammed Yousaf Khan (Mr Khan), who had died on 22 March 2015 without making any financial provision for her under the terms of his last will dated 11 February 2014 (the 2014 will). Instead, Mr Khan had left the entirety of his estate, after payment of debts and expenses, to his daughter and personal representative, the respondent. The appellant, who was elderly and disabled, had lived at 22 Lombard Avenue, Dudley (Lombard Avenue) since 1993.
Probate was granted on 11 April 2016 and solicitors instructed by the respondent wrote demanding possession o...
Boast v Ballardi & ors [2022] WTLR 1203
Winter 2022 #189The claimant issued probate proceedings seeking orders pronouncing against the validity of a will dated 11 June 2013 and in favour of an earlier will dated 15 March 2006. The claimant was the sole executor under both wills, and the sole beneficiary of the earlier will. The later will gave rise to a partial intestacy of residue, under which the defendants were the beneficiaries.
The claimant issued probate proceedings challenging the 2013 will for lack of testamentary capacity. Four defendants had consented pre-action and one had acknowledged service, not contesting the claim. No o...
Clitheroe v Bond [2022] WTLR 1217
Winter 2022 #189Jean Mary Clitheroe (the deceased) had three children, one of whom (her elder daughter) predeceased without issue. The appellant and respondent were her surviving children, the latter of whom was a victim of sexual abuse committed by her father. This had been detailed in letters written by her father and which were used in divorce proceedings by the deceased. The deceased had been profoundly affected by her elder daughter’s terminal diagnosis and death and became estranged from the respondent to the point that she started to maintain, and continued to maintain until her own death, that t...
Da Silva v Heselton & ors [2022] WTLR 1229
Winter 2022 #189The will of the late Gladys Townsend contained at clause 11 a charging clause, the relevant part of which was couched in the following words:
‘MY TRUSTEES shall have the following powers in addition to their powers under the general law or under any other provisions of this Will or any Codicil hereto… (g) for any of my Trustees who shall be engaged in any profession or business [to] charge and be paid (in priority to all other dispositions herein) all usual professional and other fees and to retain any brokerage or commission for work or business introduced transacted ...
Executor of HRH Prince Philip v HM Attorney General & anr [2022] WTLR 1251
Winter 2022 #189This was an appeal against the decision of the president of the Family Division (PFD) to seal for 90 years the will of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, to publish a list of 33 sealed wills of deceased members of the Royal Family, and to seal those 33 wills for 90 years (Re Will of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh [2021]).
At the start of the original hearing, the PFD directed that the hearing should take place in private, having only heard submissions from Prince Philip’s executor and the Attorney General (AG), but that the judgment should be made public....
Fellner v Cleall [2022] WTLR 1271
Winter 2022 #189The claimant was the daughter of the deceased. The defendant was said to have been in a relationship with the deceased. The deceased appointed the defendant along with two others as executors of his will. He also devised a freehold commercial property and £75,000 to the defendant. The residue of the estate was to be divided equally between the claimant and her two siblings. The claimant disputed the validity of the will.
On 6 May 2021, after a chain of correspondence, the claimant’s solicitors wrote to the defendant’s solicitors on an open basis setting out various detailed points...
Fennessy v Turner & anr [2022] WTLR 1295
Winter 2022 #189The claim concerned the estate of Hazel Valerie Fennessy who had died on 2 February 2020 at the age of 78. The claimant was the deceased’s son. The deceased’s other child, Heidi, predeceased her by approximately six weeks.
The deceased’s will dated 24 January 2012 left her entire estate to Heidi and appointed her as sole executrix. It provided that if Heidi predeceased then the whole estate was left to the defendant, June Turner, who was also appointed as sole executrix.
Probate was granted on 26 October 2020. The value of the estate was stated as £342,075 (gross) and £336,...
Firth & anr v Commissioners for HMRC [2022] WTLR 1297
Winter 2022 #189The appeal was brought by Mr and Mrs Firth in their capacity as trustees of the L. Batley 1984 Settlement (the trust) against notices of determination issued to the trustees by HMRC on 7 September 2018, which refused Inheritance Tax (IHT) Business Property Relief (BPR) on the grounds that the interest of the trustees in the business carried on by the Lawrance (Hotel Living) Ltd (The Lawrance) consisted mainly in the holding of investments and was therefore not a qualifying business for the purposes of BPR.
On 14 November 1984 Lawrance Batley established the trust. Prior to 2012 th...
Fullard v Kershaw & ors [2022] WTLR 1323
Winter 2022 #189The issue before the court was costs in proceedings relating to the estate of Richard Stephen Fullard (the testator), who died on 4 April 2020. By a will dated 20 June 2019 (the will), the testator appointed the following as executors and trustees of his will: the claimant, his son; the first defendant, his friend; the second defendant, his partner; and the third claimant, his daughter. By the will the testator also bequeathed one property to the second defendant, and another property to the claimant and third defendant. He made various pecuniary legacies, including to the first defendan...
Ingham & anr v Wardman & ors [2022] WTLR 1337
Winter 2022 #189The appellants (the Inghams) appealed against an interlocutory ruling which set aside a privacy order.
In the proceedings below, the Inghams were seeking permission (the permission application) to bring a derivative claim (the derivative claim) on behalf of the estate of their grandmother, the late Elfrida Louise Chappell deceased (the deceased), on the basis that the executors of the deceased’s estate, Butterfield Trust (Bermuda) Ltd and Stephen Kempe (the executors), were unable to bring that claim due to alleged conflicts of interest. The derivative claim would allege that the ...