Contested Wills & Estates - A Round-Up of Recent Case Law

Introduction

Disputes about wills and the administration of estates are responsible for a regular flow of published judgments from the High Court, plus a larger number of cases that come to court, but which either do not reach the stage of a written judgment at all or are transferred to the County Court where judgments are seldom published widely.

This webinar is intended primarily to focus on what can be learned from recent cases on issues that frequently arise in practice: challenges to the validity of wills, disputes about how an estate should be administered and under whose control, and claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• Recent case law on the principled approach to determining testamentary capacity, including lessons to be learned about the nuances of the Banks v Goodfellow test. The substantial judgments in Maile v Maile and Scott v Estate of Richard Norman Scott, and what has been said about a point made in the 2024 case of Leonard v Leonard, will be considered
• The approach of the courts to expert evidence when deciding issues of testamentary capacity, including in particular the example of Parfitt v Jones
• The decision of the County Court in Tubb v Rosmellyn Surgery regarding obtaining disclosure of medical records directly from a medical practice
• Notable recent cases involving other grounds for challenging the validity of wills, including in particular undue influence and want of knowledge and approval. The Privy Council decision in Pascall v Graham will be covered
• The importance of pursuing a probate challenge promptly once a grant has been obtained, with reference to the unusual outcome in Bowerman v Bowerman
• Recent reported judgments on the costs consequences of probate claims, with a focus on attempts by unsuccessful parties to avoid the usual consequences, including in particular Tucker v Felton-Page, Ellis v Ellis, and Burgess v Whittle. The decision in Ivey v Lythgoe concerning an attempt to involve an allegedly negligent will-writer in proceedings will also be considered
• The impact on claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, in the year since the Supreme Court overturned the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Hirachand v Hirachand

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Monday 6th July 2026

Alternatively, you can gain access to this webinar and 2,101 others via the MBL Webinar Subscription. Please email webinarsubscription@mblseminars.com for more details.