A recent High Court interim judgment appears to pour cold water on the current view that the correct test for testamentary capacity in the 21st Century should be the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005) and not the 1870 case of Banks v Goodfellow.
Read more: Testing Times for Will Disputes Involving Mental Capacity
A recent inheritance dispute case has provided another stark reminder about the court's view on parties who refuse to mediate, especially when the value of the estate is relatively modest. While each contentious probate and disputed Will claim is evaluated on its own merits, taking into consideration the individual circumstances of the claim, there are some overarching factors in such cases that courts agree on.
There have been a number of excellent articles published recently surrounding the question of "hopeless" contested probate cases. The current concern is that the rise of such work is causing legal departments, or indeed entire firms, to be set up specifically to cater for low-value, weak cases which might be inclined to settle out of court.
It has been suggested that similar to the rise of the personal injury claim as a mainstay for UK legal practices in recent years, contested probate is now experiencing the same boom. The hackneyed PI slogan of "where there's blame, there's a claim" seems to have transferred itself to family members of anyone with even a modest estate as a go-to right when they feel aggrieved by the contents of a Will – "where there's an estate, you can litigate" if you will.
Read more: Contested Probate – One person's 'hopeless' is another person's 'crucial'
Cross-border probate disputes are inherently complex and also have a tendency to be high-value, although as the world becomes increasingly connected, such disputes are becoming a more common feature for families across all kinds of economic groups.
The recent case of Rehman v Hamid [2019] EWHC 3692 (Ch) serves as a useful reminder of the need to ensure the correct jurisdiction for a dispute arising in relation to cross-border probate issues.
Read more: Cross-Border Probate Case Highlights Key Jurisdiction Issues
2019 was a challenging year for those working in the Wills and probate sector. To begin with, the government’s proposed new fee structures and regulatory changes were, after a long period of sustained and vociferous criticism, abandoned. Next, HM Courts and Tribunals Service’s restructuring of the probate registry in the form of a centralised, digitised system caused delays and backlog, leading to consternation, frustration and considerable bad press.
Probate solicitors have, on occasion, borne the brunt of client frustration while at the same time having to negotiate their own way through uncertainty, change and government U-turns. This situation has been particularly acute for those dealing with probate in relation to charities and trusts as well as practitioners in the contentious probate sector.
Read more: Contested Probate and Disputed Wills – Essential Take Homes from 2019 Cases
