Royal Commonwealth Socitety for the Blind v Beasant & anr [2021] WTLR 1457

Winter 2021 #185

By her will dated 27 June 2016 (the will) Audrey Thelma Anita Arkell (the testatrix) appointed the defendants as executors and gave a nil-rate band legacy, defined as the largest sum of cash which could be given without any inheritance tax becoming due on the transfer of value deemed to be made immediately before her death, to the first defendant. The testatrix then gave to the first defendant a specific devise, a specific bequest and her personal chattels free of tax. Pecuniary legacies were also given free of tax to other legatees and the net residuary estate was divided between the cl...

The Law Society v Dua & anr [2021] WTLR 1469

Winter 2021 #185

Between 2011 and 2013, the claimant obtained multiple charging orders in respect of five properties registered in the joint names of Mr and Mrs Dua. The Duas occupied four of the properties as a single residence, known together as ‘Fulmer House’. The other was a separate property known as 49 Sudbury Avenue.

The Duas had purchased 49 Sudbury Avenue in 1987 and occupied it as their family home until 2004. The purchase had been funded by a mortgage and the Duas’ evidence was that Mr Dua alone had made the mortgage payments. In 1992/93 and 1995, there were two major extensions to 49 S...

Thompson v Hopkinson [2021] WTLR 1521

Winter 2021 #185

The pursuer and appellant (the appellant) brought proceedings for the production and reduction of a will executed by his late brother, Samuel Thompson, on 27 November 2018. Samuel Thompson had subsequently died on 26 February 2019.

The defendant and respondent (the respondent) was the principal beneficiary and residuary legatee in terms of the 27 November 2018 will. The respondent had provided care services to the deceased from 2012 until his death. In a prior will dated 26 April 2012 the deceased left his entire estate, save for his home, to the appellant.

The appellant ...

Re Toner (deceased) [2021] WTLR 1535

Winter 2021 #185

By her last will and testament, dated 22 February 2013, the deceased bequeathed a number of pecuniary legacies of between £5,000 and £30,000, totalling £260,000. The residue of the deceased’s estate was shared by three beneficiaries, although the main residuary beneficiary had predeceased the deceased, creating a partial intestacy. The issue before the court was whether, as a matter of statutory interpretation, s30(3) of the Administration of Estates Act (Northern Ireland) 1955 meant that the property of the deceased undisposed of by her will should be applied in the fi...

Re Will of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh [2021] WTLR 1545

Winter 2021 #185

This was an application by the executor of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, for an order that his will be sealed up and that no copy of the will should be made for the record or kept on the court file, and for a direction to exclude the value of the estate from the grant of probate. The Attorney General was the sole defendant whose role it was to represent the public interest. The Attorney General strongly supported the application.

Applications to seal the wills of senior members of the Royal Family had been made for over a century. It appeared that they were always hear...