header-logo header-logo

What a turkey!

26 October 2012 / Michael Tringham
Issue: 7535 / Categories: Features , Wills & Probate
printer mail-detail

Michael Tringham follows the latest disputes in the wills & probate world

With litigation generally on a downward trend and even the number of grants of representation declining, a seemingly inexorable rise in probate and trust disputes is keeping the courts busy: proceedings rose by nearly 14% between 2010 and 2011 and more than doubled since 2006 (source: Ministry of Justice Judicial and Court Statistics).

Specialist solicitors attribute a variety of reasons for this. Howes Percival’s Elizabeth Young comments: “Families, who have not seen their relatives as regularly as perhaps they should (in the mind of the deceased) are stunned to find they are left nothing and question the validity of the will. Wills may be invalid for a want of proper formalities. ‘DIY’ wills may be incorrectly completed.” She cites recent cases where clients were unaware that their marriage had revoked the wills made days before their big day and never updated since, and another who had inadvertently revoked his UK will when making a new will in Canada to deal with a Canadian

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
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority 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
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
back-to-top-scroll