Trust, Wills and Probate

Beneficiaries often have to wait for many years after a person’s death to inherit under a will – but to what extent do they have a right to be kept...

Beneficiaries are frequently unsatisfied with the actions (or often, the lack of action) of the executors of estates or administrators of family trusts, and the animosities that can arise are...

Family trusts often date back many years, and those who drafted them could not have been expected to foresee all the dramatic social changes that have happened since pen was...

Appointing an attorney under a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is normally a sensible precaution. The procedure allows one’s financial affairs (and, if required, matters relating to health and welfare)...

Divorce is seldom straightforward, especially as regards the negotiation of the financial settlement. The lengths that some people will go to in order to disguise their assets or prevent assets...

Many cases arise each year in which the validity of a will is challenged on the ground that the will’s creator (the testator) was not of sound mind when it...

The dangers of trying to upset the provisions of a properly drafted will were made clear in a recent case in which the daughter of a wealthy man insisted on...

When a person can no longer manage their own financial affairs, these will be managed either by their attorney (if a power of attorney has been made) or by their...

It seems only right that people can do what they want with their own money and can make whatever bequests they wish in their wills. In one case which underlined...

Even the most sensible attempts at tax planning can be undone by changes in the law and achieve the exact opposite of the intended objective. However, one High Court case...