Caroline Fisher was an only child and her parents were deceased. In September 2020 she made a will appointing the claimant, her friend, as her executor. In January 2022, she drove into the sea and had not been seen since. The claimant issued a CPR Part 8 claim under the Presumption of Death Act 2013 for a declaration of presumption of death before the will had been proved. Section 1(5) of the 2013 Act provides that the court must refuse to hear the application if:
The proceedings concerned detailed assessment as part of a beneficiary’s challenge to the legal costs incurred in the administration of the estate of his late mother. The point of dispute considered in the judgment was the fees raised by one of the two executors, Mr Shepherd, who was a solicitor. It was common ground that the will did not contain a charging clause. Mr Shepherd relied on a number of arguments. He argued that his appointment was a personal one, irrespective of him being a solicitor, and that both executors were entitled to be reimbursed their expenses incurred in fair exec...
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