Contested Wills & Estates - Lessons Learned from Recent Case Law

Introduction

Disputes about wills and the administration of estates are responsible for a regular flow of judgments and recently there have been a number of notable cases in this area.

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.

Recent procedural developments and practical guidance will also be covered.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• The Wills Act 1837 (Electronic Communications) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Orders 2020 and 2022 and the impact of the changes made by this legislation which mean a will can be validly executed despite the necessary parties only being in each other’s ‘presence’ via video-link
• The case of Sangha v Sangha which considers what is required to satisfy the formality requirements for a valid will, particularly where the testator and two witnesses do not all sign while all three are in each other’s presence
• The appeal decision in Re Clitheroe on the issue of whether the Banks v Goodfellow test continues to apply and on the issue of what amounts to an insane delusion
• The case of Hughes v Pritchard in which a trial judge’s decision that a testator lacked capacity was successfully appealed, and what it shows about the role of expert evidence in disputes about testamentary capacity
• The recent cases of Williams v Williams, St Clair v King and Wilson v Spence discussing the weight to be attached to the golden rule where the issue of testamentary capacity is in dispute
• The cases of Hughes v Hughes, Goodwin v Avison, and Reeves v Drew focusing on the claims of undue influence which were unsuccessful in each of them, and a comparison with the 2019 decision in Chin v Chin where an undue influence argument succeeded
• The successful challenge to a will on the ground that the testator did not know and approve the contents of the will, in Reeves v Drew
• The case of Parsons v Reid and what lessons can be learned about flushing out claims so that the administration of an estate can proceed
• The recent example in Pegler v McDonald of the court’s approach to claims for removal of a personal representative, in particular where the application is fully contested to a final hearing
• The case of Hirachand v Hirachand involving a claim by an adult child under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, what the Court of Appeal decision on the possibility of including CFA uplifts within the award may mean for this area of practice, and whether there are prospects of the issue being resolved differently by the Supreme Court

This webinar was recorded on 31st March 2023