A County Council v MS & anr 11413486

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | July/August 2014 #141

This was an application by a local authority property and affairs deputy seeking a direction whether to authorise a gift MS wished to make. MS was a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints (the church) and wished to donate £6,832 to the church as a tithe. This sum represented 10% of a recent inheritance. RS was MS’s mother and strongly opposed to the donation. MS made his own application seeking declarations that he had capacity to litigate, capacity to make a tithe, capacity to manage his own property and affairs and capacity to execute a LPA for property and affairs.

MS...

Lewis v Lewis [2014] EWCA Civ 412

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | July/August 2014 #141

This was an application for permission to appeal from a decision of HHJ Seys Llewellyn QC in a case concerning wills. Peter Lewis contested the will of his father, Kenneth Lewis on the basis of undue influence and/or fraud. David Lewis, the beneficiary under the will, issued proceedings to determine the issue. The judge below found for David.

The application concerned Peter’s litigation capacity. Peter suffered from Asperger’s syndrome. In the earlier stages of the litigation Peter was in receipt of legal aid and represented by solicitors. At their request and on the basis of an e...

Bentine v Bentine [2013] EWHC 3098 (Ch)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | March 2014 #137

This appeal concerned the one-fifths rule contained in s70 of the Solicitors Act 1974. That rule provides that if a solicitor’s costs bill is reduced by more than one-fifth at detailed assessment, the costs of that assessment will be borne by that solicitor. If there are special circumstances, the rule may be disapplied under s70 (10) of the Act.

The original action was a claim issued in the Central London County Court by a mother against her daughter, Miss Bentine, for the court to determine their respective equitable interests in certai...

Sharma & anr v Hunters [2011] EWHC 2546 (COP)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | March 2012 #117

The applicants (R and J) made a wasted costs application against the respondent solicitors (H) in the context of proceedings known as D v R (Deputy of S) and S [2010] EWHC 2405 (CoP), which had been heard by Henderson J in the Court of Protection concerning S. R was S’s daughter and his deputy. She had brought proceedings in the Chancery Division in S’s name to recover property S had given away to D on the basis of undue influence. S’s wish was that D should retain the property given to her. In that context, D applied for a declaration from the Court of Protection that ...