17 October 2009 – 5 Stone Buildings at the forefront of estate litigation

Members of 5 Stone Buildings have been in the forefront of recent developments in estate litigation.

In Gill v RSPCA [2009] EWHC 834 (Ch), Tracey Angus acted for Dr Christine Gill in her successful claim against the RSPCA

This was a case which attracted widespread news coverage and comment. Dr. Gill’s mother had left the family farm to the RSPCA rather than to her daughter to whom it had always been promised. The claim succeeded both on the ground of proprietary estoppel, and on the challenge to the validity of the Will on the grounds of undue influence.

In Ayling v Summers [2009] EWHC B21 (Ch), Penelope Reed QC successfully proved a privileged will made by a merchant seaman

This was the first case of its kind to be reported for over 20 years and involved questions of whether the person to whom the deceased’s wishes had been communicated had come up to proof and whether the privilege extended to a merchant seaman who was serving on a foreign ship and employed by a foreign shipping company.

Henry Legge acted for the successful claimant in Martin v Triggs Turner Barton [2009] EWHC 1920 (Ch)

The defendant solicitors were found negligent in failing to draft the will of a testator in accordance with his instructions relating to an express power of advancement of capital to his widow. They had also given negligent advice to her after the testator’s death as to the allocation to income and capital of the proceeds of national savings certificates held by the estate and the claimant’s entitlement to a widow's pension. This is the first case in which solicitors have been held liable under White v Jones for loss suffered by the claimant as the object of a power and the first case in which professional executors have been held to owe a duty of care in negligence to a beneficiary of the estate in relation to issues arising in the course of administration.

Barbara Rich acted in Macdonald v. Frost [2009] EWHC 2276 (Ch)

This was a testamentary proprietary estoppel case which provided one of the first opportunities for the High Court to consider and apply the principles of the House of Lords in Thorner v Major. Even though the claimants did not succeed in proving a sufficiently clear assurance of inheritance, their liability for the defendant’s costs was significantly limited because the defendant had unreasonably failed to agree to mediation.

For further information on these cases please contact clerks@5sblaw.com