Trust, Wills and Probate

When a person no longer has the mental capacity to make a valid will (‘testamentary capacity’ in legal terms), an application can be made for a ‘statutory will’ to be...

A bequest in a will can fail for a number of reasons, one of the commonest of which is that the beneficiary is uncertain. For example, a bequest to a...

Making a bequest to a charity is relatively common. However, sometimes this can backfire spectacularly, as happened in the case of a Cheshire man who bequeathed a property to the...

When an elderly woman decided to make a new will giving her entire estate to her neighbour, the attendance note prepared by the firm she had initially approached to do...

A now retired solicitor who ‘assisted’ his two elderly aunts to change their wills, making him the principal beneficiary of both, has seen the court overturn them and reinstate earlier...

Second marriages are fruitful ground for disputes over estates and when the widow of a Sheffield multi-millionaire claimed against his £6 million estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and...

A farmer’s son who worked in the family farming business his whole life without receiving a proper wage was promised that he would inherit the farm when his father died....

Making a will is something everyone should do and it is important to have complete confidence in the person advising you. The Legal Services Board has announced proposals to...

Two adopted children stand to benefit from a £3 million trust fund despite the fact that the trust was set up when adoption did not automatically confer inheritance rights. The...

Disputed wills and estates are far from rare and it is often the least valuable assets in an estate that give rise to the bitterest arguments. In particular, a deceased...