header-logo header-logo

The generation game rolls on

02 June 2011 / Michael Tringham
Issue: 7468 / Categories: Features , Wills & Probate
printer mail-detail

Michael Tringham observes some recent judgments of Solomon

IN BRIEF

  • Son (partly) wins proprietary estoppel.
  • Wife adopts ex-husband to defeat “unfair” trust.
  • Mothers v fathers: court creates disabled children’s wills.

Disappointed with his only son John, Frank Suggitt left his £4m Yorkshire estate to his second daughter Caroline—but with this conditional promise in his will: “I express the wish (without imposing a trust) that if at any time my son shall in the absolute opinion of Caroline show himself capable of working on and managing my farmland that she shall transfer my farmland to him.”

The consequence: a double claim in Leeds High Court—for proprietary estoppel by John and for family provision under the Inheritance Act 1975 by his partner and mother of his children. John’s litigation was supported by his two other sisters. His Honour Judge Roger Kay QC commented: “The great sadness of this case is that both sides of the family became deeply entrenched and unable to reach a sensible compromise.”

Judge Kaye observed (In the matter

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
back-to-top-scroll