30 July 2018
Personal possessions and death
For most ordinary folk (me included) the cash value of their personal belongings ('chattels') is modest and will form but a tiny part of the overall value of an estate on death. But the sentimental value of specific items to individual family members, and the legal fees they might be prepared to spend haggling over who gets what, can be massive and wholly disproportionate.
16 July 2018
Holiday home/Retirement planning: will Brexit wreck it?
As the summer holiday season approaches, those of you lucky enough to have property abroad may be preparing to decamp to your rural idylls in Tuscany, Provence or Southern Spain. Football fans aside I’m also told Croatia is an increasingly popular holiday home destination?
4 July 2018
Interpreting an ambiguous Will clause and intentions of the testator (Tish and others v Olley and others)
Joseph Austin explains how the court applied the rules of interpretation to determine the testator’s intention by identifying the meaning of the relevant words in light of various factors, including common sense.
27 April 2018
Mysteries of Death – The Whereabouts of Wills and Assets
Sameena Munir blogs about the importance of keeping Wills, schedules of assets and appropriate original documents safe.
23 April 2018
Inheritance Rights of Stepchildren
Over the years, the wills and succession questions I have been asked more often than any other, concern stepchildren.