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Khatun v Hasan and Another [2025] EWHC 1658 (Ch)
The recent decision of Caroline Shea KC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) in Khatun v Hasan and Another [2025] EWHC 1658 is a rare example of a successful challenge to a will based on an allegation of forgery.
A recent unreported decision of the High Court provides helpful clarity in relation to the effectiveness of agreements between beneficiaries in estates affected by the forfeiture rule, such as in cases involving assisted dying.
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One of the most basic Inheritance Tax mitigation strategies is to make a Potentially Exempt Transfer and to survive for seven years. It is generally well understood that if there is a reservation of benefit, the seven-year survival period will not start running until the reservation of benefit is removed.
The recent decision of Costs Judge Brown in Reeves v Frain and Others [2025] EWHC 185 (SCCO) (“the Costs Judgment”) is a timely reminder for contentious probate litigators to consider their funding arrangements and retainers with care.
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.
The Privy Council in Ashley Dawson-Damer v Grampian Trust Company Ltd and Another [2025] UKPC 32 has unanimously dismissed the appeal of Mrs Ashley Dawson-Damer from the Bahamian Court of Appeal.
The “profit rule” is the latest equitable principle to be given a firm shake by those who favour the supposed predictability of common law principles.
Notice is a familiar and important concept to trust lawyers. Paradigmatically, it is a key component of the defence of bona fide purchaser without notice, which determines whether a person takes a legal property interest subject to, or free from, an equity or equitable proprietary interest of another.
The appellant was the trustee of a settlement known as the Tiodab Trust (the “Trust”). The dispute related to whether Inheritance Tax was payable on the Trust’s 10th anniversary.
Pension funds are generally exempt from Inheritance Tax (IHT) and have increasingly been used as tools for estate planning. Reforms to pensions in 2015 granted pension holders greater flexibility in accessing their savings. Prior to these reforms, most pensioners were required to purchase an annuity and receive a regular income in retirement. The changes allowed individuals to retain their savings in pension funds, drawing on them as needed, or leaving them untouched entirely.
The Statutory Residence Test set out at schedule 45 to the Finance Act 2013 is a series of rules for determining a taxpayer’s residence, replacing, from 6 April 2013, old common law rules.
It is often desirable to obtain copies of a deceased person’s health records for the purpose of advising on the merits of a potential probate claim as defined by CPR 57.1(2)(a).
On 12 March 2025, HHJ Matthews (sitting as a judge of the High Court) handed down judgment in Patel v Patel [2025] EWHC 560 (Ch). The claim involved a dispute as to the funeral arrangements for Bhikhubhai Patel (“Mr Patel”), who died in December 2024 without leaving clear instructions as to his funeral wishes.
In claims for reasonable financial provision from the estate of a deceased person under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (the 1975 Act), section 3 requires the court to have regard to a number of factors. This is often approached as a single exercise – for example in Ilott v The Blue Cross and Others [2017] UKSC 17, Lord Hughes JSC (at paras 23 to 24) considered: (i) whether the will or the position on intestacy, or a combination of both, makes reasonable financial provision for the claimant; and (ii) if not, whether and in what manner the court should exercise its powers under section 2 of the 1975 Act in order to make financial provision for them (section 3(1)).
Claims to a beneficial interest in property which is held in the sole name of the defendant are often brought on the basis of a common intention constructive trust.
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