Poole & anr v Everall & anr [2016] EWHC 2126 (Ch)
November 2016 #164This was a challenge to the formal and substantial validity of the last will of David Poole (the testator) dated 26 December 2012 (the December will) on the grounds of want of due execution, want of knowledge and approval, lack of testamentary capacity and undue influence.
The testator (who died on 19 March 2013) had suffered severe physical and psychiatric injuries following a motorcycle accident in 1985. The December will had been prepared by Mr Everall, the first respondent, who had been the testator’s paid carer/’supporting landlord’ since 1994. The December ...
Routier & anr v HMRC [2014] EWHC 3010 (Ch)
November 2016 #164This appeal concerned whether a disposition in the will of the late Mrs Beryl Coulter (the deceased) is exempt from inheritance tax because it comprises property which is given to charities within the meaning of s23 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 (the IHTA). The appellants are the executors of the deceased’s estate.
The deceased died on 9 October 2007. In her will dated 1 October 2007 she left a number of pecuniary legacies. Her residuary estate was held on trust by the executors (the Coulter Trust) for ‘such incorporated body as may be set up by the Parish of St Ouen...
Berry v Child Support Agency & Ors [2016] EWHC 1418 (CH)
October 2016 #163The claim was by the administrator of the estate of Norman Tovey (the deceased), seeking directions as to whether the estate should accept and make provision for four alleged liabilities. The deceased’s assets amounted to around £160,000, with £83,000 uncontested liabilities. The alleged liabilities, if valid, would exceed £500,000.
Following the renunciation of the two executors appointed under the deceased’s last will dated 4 November 2011, the deceased’s mother, Mrs Tovey, was appointed administrator of the estate. Because of her age, Mrs Tovey appointed the c...
Elliott v Simmonds & anr [2016] EWHC 732 (Ch)
October 2016 #163Kenneth William Jordan (Mr Jordan) died on 4 August 2012 leaving a wife (from whom he was estranged) and two adult children. The claimant was Mr Jordan’s partner during the last years of his life and the first defendant was his daughter from a relationship that predated his marriage. He had previously made a will giving pecuniary legacies to the first defendant and two of his sisters with the residuary estate passing to the claimant. Subsequently, in January 2012, Mr Jordan gave instructions to Mr Mumford (who was his brother-in-law), a solicitor with the firm Melia Mumford, to make a ne...
Elliott v Simmonds (costs) [2016] EWHC 962 (Ch)
October 2016 #163On 7 April 2016 judgment was delivered pronouncing for the force and validity of the will dated 1 February 2012 (2012 will) of Kenneth William Jordan (Mr Jordan) in solemn form of law and ordering that a caveat entered by the first defendant in respect of his estate cease to have effect. The normal rule of costs is that costs follow the event. However, the Court has discretion to make a different order, taking into account, for example, the conduct of the parties. In a contentious probate claim, there are also specific exceptions to the normal rule arising under case law and under the Ci...
Ely v Robson [2016] EWCA Civ 774
October 2016 #163The defendant (D) appealed against an order of His Honour Judge Blair QC whereby he made a declaration as to the extent of the parties’ beneficial interests in a property (the property).
D met the claimant (C) in 1986. A year later, C moved with his three sons into D’s house (37 Ashley Road). That year, C also purchased the property with a mortgage and conveyed it into his sole name. D made no contribution to the purchase price.
In 1989, D purchased another property (89 Bournemouth Road). C maintained that he contributed c.£16,000 to the purchase price, but D di...
Lewis v Warner [2016] EWHC 1787 (Ch)
October 2016 #163A died on 6 May 2014. A reconstituted will admitted to probate left A’s only child (L) her entire estate comprising principally of her home (the property). A had lived in the property with her partner (S) for almost 20 years. S continued to live there after A died.
L, as executrix of A’s estate, issued a claim for possession of the property, damages for trespass and mesne profits against S. S issued an application under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. Both claims were heard before Recorder Christopher Gardner QC.
There was no real dispute as ...
National Westminster Bank plc v Lucas & ors [2016] EWHC 1934 (Ch)
October 2016 #163The bank, which was the executor of the estate of Jimmy Savile, sought the approval of the court to the making of final distributions out of the estate to numerous individuals (PI claimants) who had applied for compensation under a scheme designed to notify, process and settle claims without formal case management in court (scheme). As well as claims against the bank, many of the PI claimants had parallel claims against third parties including the BBC, NHS, Barnardos and MIND. The scheme, which had been opposed by the first and second defendants acting as the trustees of the Jimmy Savile...
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution & ors v Headley & anr [2016] EWHC 1948 (Ch)
October 2016 #163Evelyn Irene Farmer (the deceased) died on 12 January 1996 leaving a will dated 10 August 1993 (the will). The claimants were five of the ten charitable remaindermen under the trusts created under the will. They took absolutely upon the deaths of the deceased’s son and daughter in law. The deceased’s son was deceased but the daughter in law was still alive, and consequently the claimants’ interests were yet to fall into possession. The defendants were the executors of the deceased’s estate.
In 2007, the defendants wrote to the claimants enclosing an interim...
Sussman v HMRC [2016] UKFTT 523 (TC)
October 2016 #163The appellant was the personal representative and trustee of the estate of Mrs Sussman (the deceased) who died in 2006. The appeal concerned whether a residential property (the property) was part of the deceased’s estate, and the treatment of the property for IHT purposes. The appeal also concerned appeals out of time, as the appellant’s application to bring an appeal out of time was heard as a preliminary matter immediately before the substantive appeal.
The property had belonged to the deceased’s late husband. The deceased received an interest in possession in ...