Presuming too much?
The burden of proof in estates litigation
It is a near-universal starting point in civil litigation that “he who asserts must prove”.
King v King
If a person dies intestate, then the Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987 set out an order of priority for a person to take out a grant of letters of administration to administer the deceased’s estate.
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Challenging the validity of a will
From time to time, a disappointed beneficiary may challenge the validity of a will, by alleging that the testator lacks capacity to make a will, that the testator did not know or approve the contents of the disputed will, or even perhaps that the will was forged.
A knotty problem of ordering ADR
In Halsey v Milton Keynes General NHS Trust [2004] EWCA Civ 576, the Court of Appeal appeared – controversially – to take the view that a court could not lawfully compel parties to a civil dispute to participate in an alternative dispute resolution process.
Beneficiaries assessment of costs under the Solicitors Act
Beneficiaries are often unhappy about the extent to which an estate or trust fund has been eroded by legal costs.
Rea v Rea – is this the end?
The latest in a long line of judgments in this probate dispute, Rea v Rea [2024] EWCA Civ 169, was handed down by the Court of Appeal on 23 February 2024.
Secrecy and trust
Re Mattingley is a relatively recent decision of the High Court concerning an alleged secret trust.
No charging clause, no remuneration
In Brealey v Shepherd & Co Solicitors [2024] EWCA Civ 303, the Court of Appeal provided guidance on the correct interpretation of section 29(2) of the Trustee Act 2000, as well as the court’s inherent jurisdiction to permit trustees to be remunerated.
The limits of the non-intervention principle
Save in exceptional circumstances, the court will not interfere in the exercise of trustee’s discretionary powers. That is the non-intervention principle.
National Fund in the Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal recently handed down judgment in Zedra Fiduciary Services (UK) Ltd v Attorney General [2023] EWCA Civ 1332.
CGT on divorce and separation
The Capital Gains Tax treatment of disposals between separating and divorcing spouses or civil partners is a rare example of a recent tax reform which has worked swiftly, sensibly and to the advantage of taxpayers.
Extraordinary facts requiring extraordinary proof?
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a disappointed beneficiary of a deceased’s estate will assume that chicanery has been committed in the testamentary process.
Second time around
The dispute over the estate of Evan Hughes first went to trial in 2021, was partially reversed on appeal in 2022 and was eventually re-tried – with a diametrically opposed result to the result of the first trial – in 2023. The judgment of HHJ Keyser KC in Hughes v Pritchard [2023] EWHC 1382 (Ch) represents a useful example of the potential pitfalls of proprietary estoppel claims and the uncertainty inherent in this area of litigation, even after the Supreme Court’s recent judgment in Guest v Guest [2022] UKSC 27.
Untamed judicial discretion
The Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 introduced pivotal substantive reforms to English land law, in particular ridding it of the outmoded concept of the trust for sale and replacing it with the trust of land.
Vesting orders in respect of property owned by dissolved foreign companies
It is fairly common for an owner of a flat to own their particular residence outright on a long lease, and also to own a share in the freehold as a shareholder of a separate management company.