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Wills update: undue influence & other concerns

22 September 2017
Issue: 6672 / Categories: Legal News , Wills & Probate
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The Law Commission’s proposals on testamentary undue influence are ‘cause for concern’, Jonathan McDonagh, Serle Court, has warned.

Writing in NLJ this week, McDonagh critiques the Commission’s consultation, Making a will, due to close on 10 November. While the Commission has called the law out-of-date, McDonagh says there is no need to scrap it just because it was made by Victorians. On proposed reforms to introduce circumstances where a presumption of undue influence can be applied, he says it is ‘very difficult to see what could be achieved’.

Also in NLJ this week, Alison Regan, partner at Russell-Cooke, asks how far a charity should go to protect a charitable legacy, and the duties of charity trustees, particularly in the high-profile case of animal lover Tracy Leaning.

Geldards’ partner Giselle Davies, and legal executive Ellis Pugh, meanwhile, consider the Fundraising Preference Service, which screens junkmail, and ask if it will alleviate concerns about charity behaviour.

 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Pillsbury—Lord Garnier KC

Pillsbury—Lord Garnier KC

Appointment of former Solicitor General bolsters corporate investigations and white collar practice

Hall & Wilcox—Nigel Clark

Hall & Wilcox—Nigel Clark

Firm strengthens international strategy with hire of global relations consultant

Slater Heelis—Sylviane Kokouendo & Shazia Ashraf

Slater Heelis—Sylviane Kokouendo & Shazia Ashraf

Partner and associate join employment practice

NEWS
The government’s plan to introduce a Single Professional Services Supervisor could erode vital legal-sector expertise, warns Mark Evans, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, in NLJ this week
Writing in NLJ this week, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers argues that the ‘failure to prevent’ model of corporate criminal responsibility—covering bribery, tax evasion, and fraud—should be embraced, not resisted
Professor Graham Zellick KC argues in NLJ this week that, despite Buckingham Palace’s statement stripping Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of his styles, titles and honours, he remains legally a duke
Writing in NLJ this week, Sophie Ashcroft and Miranda Joseph of Stevens & Bolton dissect the Privy Council’s landmark ruling in Jardine Strategic Ltd v Oasis Investments II Master Fund Ltd (No 2), which abolishes the long-standing 'shareholder rule'
In NLJ this week, Sailesh Mehta and Theo Burges of Red Lion Chambers examine the government’s first-ever 'Afghan leak' super-injunction—used to block reporting of data exposing Afghans who aided UK forces and over 100 British officials. Unlike celebrity privacy cases, this injunction centred on national security. Its use, the authors argue, signals the rise of a vast new body of national security law spanning civil, criminal, and media domains
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