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What tech businesses need to know in 2026
Christopher Perrin
The types of legacy dispute that a charity might find themselves embroiled in include a challenge to the validity of a Will, a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (“1975 Act”) or a Will construction or proprietary estoppel claim, brief details of which are set out in four consecutive blogs to be published over the next week along with associated top tips for charities for dealing with these types of dispute.
On 8 November 2018, almost 17 months out of time, Mary Jane Cowan made an application under Section 4 of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 for permission to make an application under Section 2 of that Act against the estate of her deceased husband, Michael Anthony Cowan (Cowan v Foreman, [2019] EWHC 349 Fam).
2018 has seen many interesting decisions in the field of contentious trust and probate litigation. I summarise what I see as some of the key cases below (in order of the judgment date), which have covered topics varying from will validity challenges to construction of trust documents and much more in between.
Last month it was reported by the BBC that a consultant psychiatrist, Zholia Alemi, had been found guilty of four fraud and theft charges (and subsequently jailed for five years) having “redrafted [an elderly patient’s] will and fraudulently applied for power of attorney” in an effort to benefit from her estate. Alemi is said to have met the patient at a dementia clinic.
The principles applicable to costs in the context of probate litigation are different from the costs of other litigation. In particular, there are two long established exceptions to the general litigation rule that costs follow the event.
Christopher Perrin
Oliver Oldman
Jessica Etherington
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