Coles v Reynolds & anr WTLR(w) 2021-02

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Web Only

Todd v Parsons & ors [2020] WTLR 305

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Spring 2020 #178

T died in 2009, aged 96 years, leaving two adult children, her son, who was the claimant (C), and her daughter, who was the third defendant (D3). By a will document dated 25 September 2008, T appointed the first defendant (D1) and the second defendant (D2) as her executors. D1 was the daughter of D3 and T’s only grandchild. D2 was the solicitor who drafted the will document. Both remained neutral in the proceedings.

In June 2017, C brought a claim for probate in solemn form of the will document and for an order removing D1 and D2 as executors and appointing an independent personal...

Barnaby & anr v Johnson [2020] WTLR 67

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Spring 2020 #178

Mrs Maudlin Bascoe (T) died on 29 August 2015. Cs sought to prove a will dated 27 April 2005 (the 2005 will) naming them as executors. C1 was T’s son. C2 was T’s former solicitor and the draftsman of her wills from 1988 2005. D was T’s daughter. T also had two other children – a son, G, (who pre-deceased her) and a daughter, B (who died after T in 2017).

Under the 2005 will, D received a legacy of £100. There was an earlier will dated 25 October 1992 (the 1992 will) leaving D a legacy of £10,000 the validity of which D did not dispute at trial.

D challenged the 2005 will, a...

Probate: Promises, promises

The parable of the prodigal son has resonance in modern probate disputes. Alex Troup discusses ‘The judge’s finding that the deceased had deliberately broken the agreement to equalise the balance between her two children explained the difference between her old will and the disputed will.’ The parable of the prodigal son has all the makings …
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Wills: A risky business

Laura Abbott sets out what needs to be considered when challenging the validity of a will prepared by a professional ‘The court will require the strongest of evidence to find a will to be invalid and it is extremely difficult to succeed where the medical records and solicitors’ evidence are all supportive of validity.’ As …
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Parsonage v Parsonage & ors WTLR(w) 2020-02

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Web Only

Rea v Rea & ors [2019] WTLR 1231

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Winter 2019 #177

The claimant (Rita) was the daughter of Anna Rea (T) who died on 26 July 2016. The defendants (Remo, Nino, and David) were T’s other children. Rita propounded a will dated 7 December 2015 (the 2015 Will). The defendants defended on the basis that T had lacked testamentary capacity to execute the 2015 Will, that she did not know and approve of its contents, and that her execution of it was procured by undue influence and fraudulent calumny. They counterclaimed for probate propounding an earlier will dated 29 May 1986 (the 1986 Will). At trial they had abandoned the challenge based on lack...

Undue influence: Reform needed?

Emily Exton and Rebecca Welman provide a summary of recent undue influence cases and outline their relevance for practitioners ‘It is long established that mere persuasion of the testator which results in a change of mind will not amount to undue influence.’ English law distinguishes between undue influence in the context of lifetime gifts and …
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Gupta v Gupta & ors [2019] WTLR 575

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Summer 2019 #175

The Claimant (‘Rakesh’) sought to pronounce against the only will made by his late mother, Urmila Rani Gupta (‘the Will’). The Defendants were his two siblings (‘Naresh’ and ‘Sashi’), their children and his own children. The only party actively defending the claim was Naresh – he also brought a Part 20 Claim to appoint an independent administrator of the estate. The Part 20 Claim was not opposed.

The Deceased and her husband Laxmi made mirror wills in November 1998. Laxmi died before the Deceased, so the effect of the Will was that it gave Sashi and each grandchild a small pecunia...