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 […]
31
Oct
Oct
The decision of the Court of Appeal last week in Haley v Haley [2020] EWCA Civ 1369 represents a fundamental shift in the approach to be taken to challenges to financial remedy arbitration awards, made upon divorce or dissolution of civil partnerships pursuant to the provisions of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (“MCA 1973”) (or […]
25
Oct
Oct
We now have two recent decisions on the subject of interim payments under s. 5 of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975: the decision of Mrs Justice Lieven in T v V, which I have covered in a recent post here, and now the decision of Mr Justice Francis in Weisz v […]
23
Oct
Oct
Her Honour Judge Hilder has given judgment in ACC & Others [2020] EWCOP 9, a test case which concerns the circumstances in which deputies must seek authority to litigate on behalf of P and other considerations such as managing conflicts where a professional deputy proposes to instruct its own firm in the litigation. The specific […]
10
Sep
Sep
Shortly before the Parliamentary recess, on 25 July 2020, the Government made a much anticipated, announcement that it would be introducing legislation modifying the formality requirements of s. 9 of the Wills Act 1837 so as to expressly permit the remote witnessing of wills via the use of video-conferencing technology. The issue of making wills […]
02
Jun
Jun
It was my great pleasure to co-author this article with Juliet Brook. Juliet is a Principal Lecturer in Law at the University of Portsmouth, specialising in property law. Her research focuses on the law of succession and she has written a series of detailed articles on testamentary dispensing powers, which you can find here. This article […]
01
Jun
Jun
My last two posts have looked at the issue of will-making during the coronavirus pandemic, and the difficulties of socially distant witnessing, and some of the proposals for reform of the law of wills and the options for a temporary solution to the difficulties faced by testators during the pandemic. In this post, I address […]