Trust, Wills and Probate

There are a number of requirements that must be met for a will to be valid and one of these is that the signing of the will must be witnessed...

With the recent furore over the Government’s proposed increase in the cost of obtaining probate on larger estates, currently on ice owing to lack of parliamentary time in the run...

Disputes about the validity of wills frequently centre on allegations that the deceased lacked ‘mental capacity’ when they created a will. In a recent case, the court had to...

Where there is money, there is opportunity for wrongdoing and a steady stream of cases show that vigilance is needed to prevent the assets of the deceased or elderly being...

Will disputes can be extremely bitter and the kind of skulduggery depicted in fiction sadly sometimes reflects reality. In one case, the High Court found that a well-respected accountant had...

The Government has acknowledged that the upcoming general election makes it unlikely that probate fees will increase significantly in May as planned, as there will not be time for Parliament...

The latest research from National Savings and Investments shows that a staggering 64 per cent of adults in the UK have not made a will, and that 38 million adults...

A recent case shows the importance of involving a solicitor in the preparation of a will, especially where it is considered that an attempt to invalidate it on the grounds...

Probate fees, which rose sharply only three years ago, are about to rise again. Under the present scheme an application for probate by an individual costs £215 and by...

A surprising Court of Appeal decision that a daughter was a ‘dependant’ of her estranged mother and thus entitled to benefit from her estate has now been overturned by the...