"Very good, very clear, responsive, strong, stable and capable"

In Sangha v The Estate of Diljit Kaur Sangha & Others [2021] EWHC 1599 (Ch), the court praised William’s ‘skilful cross examinations‘, his ‘persuasive advocacy‘ and his ‘careful and detailed submissions‘.

William has received the following recent comments in the legal directories:

“He is very good in court, has a calm manner and is loved by clients because of that.”

“Very good, very clear, responsive, strong, stable and capable.”

Chambers UK Bar 2021 – Chancery: Traditional

“Unflappable in court and very responsive. He is always in control and his written work is excellent.”

“Has a fantastic eye for detail and a clear grasp of strategy.”

Chambers UK Bar 2021- Court of Protection: Property  & Affairs

“A very good junior in relation to probate and succession disputes”.

Chambers & Partners – High Net Worth 2020

“An effective litigator”.

Legal 500 2021 – Court of Protection and Community Care

• Sangha v Estate of Diljit Kaur Sangha & Others [2021] EWHC 1599 (Ch) (Alleged Will forgery, proprietary estoppel, construction of will revocation clauses in foreign wills, effect of annulment of bankruptcy on the severance of joint tenancies)
• Re MJL [2019] EWCOP 31 (Court of Protection, proposed statutory gifts with the purpose of tax planning).
• Supple v Supple [2016] EWHC 2619 (Ch) (committal application in proceedings concerning the administration of an estate). This case and Wooldridge (see below) generated national press coverage.
• Wooldridge v Wooldridge [2016] Fam Law 451 (dismissal of surviving spouse’s Inheritance Act claim in £6.8m estate. William successfully acted for the defendants with Penelope Reed QC). See also the costs decision ([2016] 3 Costs LO 531) in which the defendants were awarded indemnity costs.
• Crossfield v Jackson [2015] WTLR 1519 (alleged undue influence regarding a property purchase) (Court of Appeal)
• Scott v HMRC [2015] WTLR 1461 (alleged gift of paintings with Inheritance Tax implications) (First-Tier Tax Tribunal). William successfully resisted HMRC’s claim that further tax was due in this case.

William’s recent experience includes:

• Appearing in a 10-day trial in the High Court in a claim involving alleged will forgery, proprietary estoppel, will construction issues (including regarding a revocation clause in a foreign will) and a legal issue concerning the effect of an annulment of a bankruptcy on the severance of joint tenancies owned by the bankrupt with another person.
• Successfully appearing for the Official Solicitor in an application for a statutory gift for the purpose of tax planning in Re MJL [2019] EWCOP 31.
• Successfully defending a claim for a beneficial interest in two properties at an 8-day trial;
• Acting for the claimants and defendants in multiple proprietary estoppel claims.
• Acting for the claimant in an Inheritance Act claim involving a cohabitant and an estate worth £7.5m
• Successfully pursuing a committal application in the High Court in relation to the administration of an estate – see Supple v Supple [2016] EWHC 2619 (Ch).
• Acting at a trial in matrimonial financial remedy proceedings in relation to a dispute over the ownership of a property
• Successfully defending an Inheritance Act claim by a spouse in relation to an estate worth £6.8m with Penelope Reed QC in Wooldridge v Wooldridge [2016] Fam Law 451
• Advancing a proprietary estoppel claim in relation to an estate worth £4.5m up to trial at which the matter settled (led by Penelope Reed QC)
• Successfully defending a claim by executors for Beddoe relief in relation to a proprietary estoppel action
• Acting for an ex-professional footballer against an IFA and several pension companies for allegedly failing to preserve his favourable retirement age and making unauthorised payments out of his pension fund; acting for the same ex-footballer against another IFA and several pension companies for alleged breaches of trust.

William is a member of the Bar Pro Bono Unit and has advised and appeared in a number of matters. He is willing to consider working pro bono through the Unit or on instruction from a solicitor in deserving cases.

William also participates in CLIPS, the Chancery Bar Association’s scheme providing representation for litigants in person in the Applications Court of the Chancery Division.

William is a qualified mediator through the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) and is happy to accept instructions to act as mediator in cases involving his fields of practice.

Bar Vocational Course (Very Competent)

2007 Lincoln’s Inn Lord Denning and Hardwick Scholarships

Runner-up, Times Law Awards

Graduate Diploma in Law (Commendation)

2006 Lobbyist and health policy adviser at the Confederation of British Industry

2005 Intern at the US Congress (Office of Congressman Don Young)

2003 HWC Davis Prize for the highest mark in Modern History exams across Oxford University; St John’s College Scholarship

2002-2005: St John’s College, Oxford (Modern History)

William was educated at St John’s College, Oxford, where he read Modern History. Before joining the Bar, he worked for some time in the US Congress and at the Confederation of British Industry, where he acted as a lobbyist on health policy issues on behalf of several FTSE 100 and 250 firms.

In 2009, William was appointed as a judicial assistant to Lord Walker and Lord Dyson in the Supreme Court. He took up this role in September 2009, returning to chambers in August 2010.

William is a member of the Chancery Bar Association and a former member of the Main Committee of the Association. He sits on the Chancery Bar Association’s Wellbeing and Chambers Social Responsibility Sub-Committee.

William regularly speaks both at chambers seminars and externally concerning his practice areas.

William also regularly writes articles in legal journals. Some of his articles include:

• Solicitors for the Elderly Chancery case updates – various dates from 2014-2021
• “Testamentary options”, Trusts & Estates, March 2021
• “Not everything that glitters is gold: will forgery and the change to the Wills Act 1837”, Trusts & Estates, October 2020
• “Tax planning in the Court of Protection”, Trusts & Estates, May 2020
• “Flexible deadlines: why are some delayed claims out of time and not others?”, Trusts and Estates Law & Tax Journal, May 2019, 4-9.
• “Removing defaulting attorneys and deputies”, Trusts & Estates 2018/19, December/January, 4-7 (with Eliza Eagling)
• “Does a witness to a will need to sign it?”, Trusts & Estates 2018, June, 1-3
• “Constructive trusts and proprietary estoppel (again)”, Trusts & Estates 2018, June, 6-8
• “Trustees who have lost capacity – a guide to removing and replacing them”, Private Client Business 2016, 4, 182-189
• “Setting aside tax mistakes in settlements post-Pitt v Holt”, Elder Law Journal, 2015 5 (3), 323-327
• “Business tenancies and the Equality Act”, Solicitors Journal, 2013 157 (21), 10-11
• “Letting the cat out of the bag: the law of trust disclosure”, Private Client Business, 2013 3, 106-112
• “Agricultural property relief: recent developments”, Elder Law Journal, 2012, 2(2), 198-203
• “Drafting a deathbed will”, Solicitors Journal, 2012, 156(13) Supp (Private Client Focus March 2012), 9-11
• “The Court of Protection: no longer the “secret” court”?”, Elder Law Journal, 2011, 1(4), 415-423
• “The removal of trustees by the court”, Trusts and Estates Law and Tax Journal, March 2011, with Penelope Reed QC
• “Surely some mistake? The widening jurisdiction of the court to set aside voluntary transactions”, Trust Quarterly Review (Volume 8, Issue 1, February 2010), pp. 17-20.

Click here to view William’s Privacy Notice.