‘A major City law firm can continue bringing a case it took on assignment from former clients which could mitigate a possible professional negligence claim, the High Court has ruled.’
Legal Futures, 18th March 2025
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘An electrician has won a £700,000 will fight after a video emerged of his younger sister holding and “propelling” their dying mother’s hand as she signed over her fortune on her deathbed.’
The Independent, 5th March 2025
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘On 18 December 2024, the Supreme Court delivered its much-anticipated decision in Hirachand, holding that Conditional Fee Agreement (“CFA”) success fees cannot be recovered as part of an applicant’s financial needs under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (“the 1975 Act”). Although the decision has now provided much-needed certainty in this area, to say it has had a mixed reception amongst Chancery practitioners would be an understatement. This note will provide an overview of the decision and its background as well as some reflections on its implications for future litigants.’
St Philips Barristers, 30th January 2025
Source: st-philips.com
‘Damages-based agreements (DBAs) used by a law firm in a probate dispute concerning a multi-million pound estate are unenforceable because they do not comply with DBA rules, the High Court ruled last week.’
Law Society's Gazette, 7th February 2025
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Controversial proposals to replace archived will documents with digital copies in order to save storage costs have been dropped, the Ministry of Justice has announced. In a move that will be welcomed by historians, a minister said the ‘indispensable bridge’ to the past would be preserved.’
Law Society's Gazette, 10th January 2025
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘A will written on the back of cardboard food packaging has been found to be valid by the high court, meaning a charity stands to inherit £180,000.’
The Guardian, 13th November 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A disgruntled litigant who made threatening calls to a law firm has been banned from making any direct further contact with the practice.’
Law Society's Gazette, 22nd October 2024
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘A law firm has been granted an injunction by the High Court after four female members of staff received anonymous, “obscene and criminal” phone calls.’
Legal Futures, 22nd October 2024
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The recent decision of Joanna Smith J in Leonard v Leonard [2024] EWHC 321 (Ch) is instructive for private client practitioners, non-contentious and contentious alike. The validity of a will was disputed on the grounds of lack of testamentary capacity and want of knowledge and approval. The case stands out for its unusual facts, of how warning signs were missed, of how a professional will drafter failed to comply with repeated client instructions for a simple will, and of how the court will be aided (or not) by ex post facto expert evidence.’
Wilberforce Chambers, 30th September 2024
Source: www.wilberforce.co.uk
‘Philip Morris v James Morris, Kate Shmuel and Gregory White [2024] EWHC 2554 (Ch). These proceedings concerned the forfeiture rule under section 2(2) of the Forfeiture Act 1982 as it applies to the estates of people who travel to Switzerland for assisted dying (the 1982 Act). Mrs Myra Morris had ended her own life with the assistance of the staff at the Swiss clinic and the assistance of her husband Philip. She had been suffering from Multiple System Atrophy, a rare and degenerative neurological disorder with no known cure.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 14th October 2024
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘A judge has ruled wealthy heiress Paula Leeson was unlawfully killed by her husband blocking him from inheriting her £4.4m estate.’
The Independent, 7th September 2024
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘At first blush the decision of Freedman J in Nazir v Begum [2024] EWHC 378 (KB) appears counterintuitive. Section 33(1) of the Administration of Estates Act 1925 (“AEA”) states that:
“On the death of a person intestate as to any real or personal estate, that estate shall be held in trust by his personal representatives with the power to sell it”.’
Wilberforce Chambers, 30th July 2024
Source: www.wilberforce.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal in Winter & Anor v Winter & Anor [2024] EWCA Civ 699 recently considered an appeal focused on the finding of the judge at first instance that there was detriment for the purposes of a proprietary estoppel claim. The case provides a useful recap of the relevant principles to be applied when detriment falls to be considered.’
Gatehouse Chambers, 25th July 2024
Source: gatehouselaw.co.uk
‘The High Court has refused a time extension to claimants to serve a professional negligence claim on a law firm over the restructuring of a trust.’
Legal Futures, 5th August 2024
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Members of a family who lost out on a £2.8m inheritance after a relative left his estate to a friend by using a doctrine of Roman law have won permission to appeal over a potential “precedent of importance”.’
Law Society's Gazette, 5th August 2024
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The High Court has granted a final injunction to stop a district judge being harassed by his brother-in-law over a will.’
Legal Futures, 30th July 2024
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘A former police officer who had an inappropriate relationship with a vulnerable woman committed gross misconduct, a police panel has ruled.’
BBC News, 16th July 2024
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Lois McMaster Bujold once wrote “the dead cannot cry out for justice. It is the duty of the living to do so for them”. This articles considers how far the living may be able to go – the death of a party to current or potential litigation is not a priority in the grieving process of the loved ones left behind, but it is an aspect of litigation with which lawyers should be familiar.’
Wilberforce Chambers, 23rd May 2024
Source: www.wilberforce.co.uk
‘A mother who stole £50,000 of inheritance from her two daughters out of “greed and spite” has been jailed.’
BBC News, 31st May 2024
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Judgment has now been handed down in Langley v Qin, a dispute over the will of Robert Harrington
who, at the age of 93, married his carer, Ms Qin, then aged 54.’
New Square Chambers, 15th April 2024
Source: newsquarechambers.co.uk
© Inner Temple Library 2025