Taylor Swift’s Anti-Hero is, to the best of my knowledge, the only pop song to feature a contentious probate dispute (Reader: if you know another, do please tell). She sings: ‘I have this dream my daughter-in-law kills me for the money She thinks I left them in the will The family gathers ’round and reads […]
26
Sep
Sep
District Judge Chloë Phillips has given judgment in Coady v Coady PT-2023-BHM-000025 (Business & Property Courts in Birmingham (Probate)), determining as a preliminary issue whether a Covid‑era “garden signing” satisfied s.9 of the Wills Act 1837. The court held that it did not, with the result that the will of 25 April 2020 was invalid. This […]
26
Jul
Jul
This article was co-authored with Anita Mehta, barrister at 4PB, and was first published in the Summer 2025 edition of the Financial Remedies Journal. Introduction Fifty years ago, the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (“1975 Act”) was enacted in an expansion of the Court’s statutory powers for financial provision on death.[1] […]
26
Feb
Feb
In the aftermath of many family relationship breakdowns, second only to complaints about bad behaviour, a pervasive sentiment arises: one party believes they have invested or contributed disproportionately to the family economy, family assets or businesses, leading to perceived unfairness. Whilst statute provides a framework within which such considerations can be evaluated and reflected in […]
06
Feb
Feb
At the height of the pandemic, one of the issues that much preoccupied private client practitioners was the difficulty of witnessing wills whilst observing social distancing rules – particularly for testators who were shielding or self-isolating. This lead to a variety of inventive witnessing arrangements, such as that described by HHJ Tindal in Baker […]
02
Apr
Apr
‘1. “One day my son, all this will be yours”. Spoken by a farmer to his son when in his teens, and repeated for many years thereafter. Relying on that promise of inheritance from his father, the son spends the best part of his working life on the farm, working at very low wages, accommodated […]
15
Mar
Mar
The Court of Appeal’s decision in Hudson v Hathway [2022] EWCA Civ 1648 is arguably the most important decision on the subject of constructive trusts of the family home since the House of Lords decided Stack v Dowden [2007] UKHL 17. The decision brings clarity to an area of law that is notoriously nebulous. As […]
12
Mar
Mar
Naidoo v Barton [2023] EWHC 500 (Ch) clarifies an important, and hitherto unresolved, issue concerning the doctrine of mutual wills. The court determined that it is the Etridge test for undue influence, applicable to challenging life time transactions, that applies when considering whether or not a mutual wills agreement should be set aside and not the […]
11
Mar
Mar
The term ‘predatory marriage’ is not a legal concept, but rather a convenient descriptor for a marriage entered into in circumstances where one party to the marriage is vulnerable and has been induced to enter into the marriage by the other party who is acting solely for financial gain. The effects of a later […]
01
Jul
Jul
Court based ADR hearings, where a judge attempts to assist parties to reach terms of settlement, are on the rise. This is a concept that has been around for some time but which appears to have been embraced with greater enthusiasm since the pandemic as a solution to the backlog many courts are struggling with […]