December 2014 #162 – Law Journals

Statutory Wills: Doing the right thing

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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Charities: Deciding charitable intent

Charlie Fowler sets out what charities should do with donations when the purpose behind an appeal fails ‘In the event that there is an initial failure with a charitable appeal and all of the donors to the appeal are identifiable, then, on the face of it, the trustees of the charity will hold the money …

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Wills: A will writer’s work of fiction

Edward Hicks explores the implications of Re Catling [2014] ‘The Ministry of Justice has recently rejected regulation of the will-writing sector. This case is an illustration of the potential disastrous consequences of allowing unregulated so-called “professionals” to act in this sector.’ In 2005 Mrs Catling was an elderly widow. She had eight children. She was …

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Musings From Manchester: Wealth and safety

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Geoffrey Shindler considers how much children should know about their parents’ wealth ‘I have the feeling that some of us are more comfortable dealing with beneficiaries and exercising or not exercising the powers of appointment vested in us as trustees than we are dealing with the same issues which confront us as parents.’ WS Gilbert …

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Trust And Probate Claims: Counting the cost

Alexander Learmonth examines the effect of the Supreme Court’s decision on the costs of the claim for rectification of a will in Marley v Rawlings [2014] ‘When advising clients contemplating the risks of litigation, litigators should continue to adopt a cautious approach; clients must be ready to negotiate in good faith, rather than relying on …

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Succession: Consider what is just

Mark Pawlowski explains the court’s power to relieve an unlawful killer from forfeiture of their victim’s estate ‘The Forfeiture Act 1982 empowers the court to grant relief to a person who has unlawfully killed another and who is precluded, under the forfeiture rule, from acquiring a benefit in consequence of the killing.’ The common law …

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Charity Update: All the right properties

Paul Ridout looks at the current position with charities buying land ‘The duties of charity trustees when acquiring property are derived from the general law relating to trustees and, in practical terms, the formulation of the “duty of care” in s1 of the Trustee Act 2000 is used by the Commission as a benchmark.’ The …

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