Testamentary gifts: What happens when there is a change in value of gifts between making a will and death?

It is difficult to establish want of knowledge and approval where a defendant has made a specific gift. Sarah Bolt reviews a case in point The court held that the lack of mathematical equality at the time of death did nothing to undermine the rationality of the provisions which the solicitor was instructed to incorporate …
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Testamentary capacity: Stick to the rules

Pauline Lyons discusses a case that outlines the importance of following procedure when will drafting When scrutinised and tested by the court in the course of Gavin Boast’s validity claim, the evidence showed that the will could not be upheld within the realms of the Banks v Goodfellow test and was accordingly set aside. The …
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Valid execution: A will, but no way

Wilson v Spence is a useful reminder of the evidential burden on a party propounding a will. Dilan Deeljur discusses Practitioners (on either side, whether propounder or examiner of a will) should not simply take a will at face value and assume valid execution. In Wilson v Spence [2022] the claimants sought to propound a …
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Probate: In at the deep end

Lessons can be learned about trial conduct when litigants appear in person and more in Lonsdale v Teasdale. Elis Gomer elucidates While showing a ‘real doubt’ as to capacity is not a trivial requirement in evidential terms, once that has been done, the burden will be on the party seeking to propound the will to …
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Testamentary capacity: When capacity fluctuates

Joseph de Lacey and Rowan Cope update practitioners on the High Court’s current approach to interpreting testamentary capacity It is striking that what appeared to be settled conclusions by respected professionals made contemporaneously with the execution of the disputed will… could be partially displaced by a misunderstanding as to the scale of the difference between …
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Testamentary capacity: Goodfellow for our times

Lucinda Brown and Judith Swinhoe-Standen consider delusions and testamentary capacity following Clitheroe v Bond Given the varying circumstances of testators, there is unsurprisingly a considerable grey area in defining what kinds of beliefs are delusional for the purposes of testamentary capacity. The judgment of Clitheroe v Bond, handed down on 4 May 2021, was eagerly …
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