Contentious Probate - How to Avoid Disputes, Pitfalls & Traps

Introduction

This in-person course will provide comprehensive guidance on the most common contentious probate issues. It will also examine the growing range of options for ADR with a particular emphasis on mediation.

What You Will Learn

This course will cover the following:

• Challenges to a Will - a detailed look at the principal heads of claim including:
  • Lack of capacity
  • Lack of due execution
  • Lack of knowledge and approval
  • Undue influence
  • Fraud, forgery and fraudulent calumny
  • The course will consider the legal test for each head of claim and take a close look at the relevant case law considering the tensions between the common law and the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the differing tests for undue capacity in life and death and the changing climate with regard to the importance attached to testamentary freedom
• Procedure - we will examine the relevant procedure both under the Civil Procedure Rules and the Non-Contentious Probate Rules
• Costs - including the exceptions to the general rules in probate claims and considering cost-budgeting and cost-capping in Probate and related claims
• Applications to remove and/or substitute personal representatives
• Rectification of wills post Marley v Rawlings
• Mediation/ADR: modern dispute resolution - challenges, tactics and opportunities in the post-Jackson world