IHT on pensions
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.
Uncertainty on net estate in 1975 Act claims
In claims for reasonable financial provision from the estate of a deceased person under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, section 3 requires the court to have regard to a number of factors.
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IHT – When does the seven-year period start?
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.
What’s the damage?
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.
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.
Accessing health records
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).
The “Mr Kipling will”
The British Diabetic Association v Chenery [2024] EWHC 3466 (Ch) was a case about the validity of a will written on the back of two torn out pieces of food packaging. It attracted significant press attention when it was decided in November 2024; the Daily Mail, The Guardian and The Times all publishing articles on the decision.
Footing the bill: costs in trusts proceedings
When considering whether to bring proceedings in relation to a trust, a key question for practitioners and litigants is who might pay the costs. In particular, practitioners may be asked to advise whether the costs of the proceedings will be payable from the trust fund itself.
The basis of the “knowledge and approval” doctrine
For a will to be valid it is commonly said that there are four requirements: (1) the will must have been executed by the testator in accordance with the Wills Act 1837, section 9; (2) the testator must have had the necessary capacity to execute the will; (3) the testator must have been free of undue influence and fraud; and (4) the testator must have “known and approved” of the will. This article considers the fourth requirement, the need for knowledge and approval.
Statutory residence test match special
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.
Rome, primroses and etymological chameleons
Turner’s “Rome, From Mount Aventine” (the “Painting”) was completed in 1835, the preliminary sketches having been made during his second trip to Rome in 1828. We are on the southernmost of the seven hills, looking north over Tiber Island at dawn.
Funeral disputes
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.
Doctrine of merger does not apply to declaratory judgments
Any lawyer who has issued proceedings which include a claim for declaratory relief will breathe a small sigh of relief following the Supreme Court’s decision in Nasir v Zavarco plc [2025] UKSC 5.
Equitable fraud?
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.
The taxation of foreign domiciliaries from April 2025
It will be well known by most readers that it has been a key plank of Labour’s electoral campaign to abolish the link between domicile and UK taxation.