Denzil Lush makes the case for the return of substituted judgment ‘Exercising substituted judgment – whereby I sought to stand in the testator‘s shoes and authorise the execution of the will that they would make, if they had testamentary capacity – seemed a more realistic, relevant and reverential process than my experiences under the Mental …
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Ruth Hughes explores the notion of ‘doing the right thing’ in a will ‘In the absence of evidence to the contrary the court was entitled to assume that P would want to put their affairs in order by making a will and that they would want to do the right thing and not leave their …
Continue reading "Wills: The prodigal daughter?"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | April 2015 #148Elizabeth Jane Walker (Mrs Walker) was born on 25 March 1956. She married John Walker in 1981, and with him she had two daughters, Jennifer and Alison. In 2007, she left her husband and began to live with Michael Badmin (Mr Badmin).
On 20 June 2009, Mrs Walker was diagnosed with a terminal, malignant brain tumour. Following the prescription of medication, she began to suffer from symptoms of psychosis. However, her condition gradually improved, and she was discharged from hospital on 20 July 2009. Mrs Walker’s health begun to deteriorate in Autumn 2009. By October, she was bed-bou...
Re Gladys Meek [2014] has lessons on safeguarding the mentally incapable from loss. Sam Chandler analyses the case. ‘The judge considered that it could not be in Mrs Meek’s best interests to require what was left of her resources to be expended on litigation to remedy the deputies’ default when a straightforward alternative was available.’ …
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Sharon Kenchington finds that NT v FS sets out useful guiding principles on determining ‘best interests’, in a rare reported case ‘Any decision made on behalf of the individual for whom the statutory will is being made must be in their best interests. It is important to recognise that this is not the same as …
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | October 2013 #133The public guardian made an application to enforce a security bond of £44,300 in respect of unauthorised gifts made by the late Mrs Joan Treadwell’s deputy for property and financial affairs, Colin Lutz, who was her son from her first marriage. She had five children in total all from her first marriage.
At the age of 58 in 1984 Mrs Treadwell married her third husband William Treadwell, who had two daughters of his own: Joanna Wildgoose and Emma Treadwell.
In 2005 Mrs Treadwell was diagnosed as having Alzheimer’s disease and entered a nursing home. Mr Lutz was ap...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | June 2013 #130F is a 74-year-old retired rugby player with assets of £3m and was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and dementia in 2006. The applicant (NT), who is F’s deputy, brought this application for a statutory will to be executed on behalf of F and for a statutory gift of £50,000 to be made to F’s 95-year-old mother (T). The respondents were the potential beneficiaries of such will. The statutory gift was uncontroversial, however the statutory will provisions were contested. Judge Behrens, in determining what terms would be in F’s best interests, had regard to previous authorit...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | April 2013 #128Miss Buckley executed an LPA on 7 September 2010, appointing her niece, C, as her sole attorney for property and affairs. The LPA was registered on 17 January 2011.
On 20 April 2012, the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) received a complaint about the attorney’s handling of Miss Buckley’s finances and initiated a formal investigation. The OPG instructed a Court of Protection General Visitor to see Miss Buckley, following which, on 23 October 2012, interim orders were made by the court for suspension of the LPA and other protective measures in relation t...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | December 2012 #125Mrs D had lost her mental capacity and a committee of guardians was appointed by the court to look after her financial affairs including her interest as primary beneficiary of a Cayman Islands family trust. Before she lost capacity Mrs D entered into a settlement agreement (the peace accord) with her family, settling many years of litigation in the Cayman Islands. Two of the committee of guardians (the other members of the committee were conflicted by reason of their own interest in the settlement agreement) applied to the Grand Court under the Mental Health Law (1997 Revision) ...
Michael O’Sullivan reviews the case of Re JC [2012], which clarifies the current position with statutory wills and adoption The effect in law of an adoption is that the adopted child ceases to be regarded as the child of their natural parents and becomes, in the eyes of the law, the child of the adopters. …
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