In this quarter, our experts round-up the most recent developments in the sector, summarising the Ministry of Justice’s remote witnessing guidelines as the virtual era for wills comes to an end.
The team also considers how the dramatic Civil Procedure Rules changes will affect disputes involving trusts and estates, and explores the potential issues for farming families during proprietary estoppel claims, providing advice for these families when succession planning.
For more than 150 years in order for a will to be valid, it had to be made in accordance with section 9 of the Wills Act 1837. This amendment came to an end on 31 January 2024, after the government decided not to further extend the legislation. In this article, we summarise the Ministry of Justice’s remote witnessing guidelines as they then were. We recommend that testators review their wills and codicils against those guidelines.
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The Civil Procedure Rules have been amended to give the courts the authority to order the parties in disputes to engage in alternative dispute resolution (ADR). The main types of ADR in litigation are mediation, arbitration and negotiation. In this article, we highlight the dramatic changes, explore why they have been made and consider what this means for disputes involving trusts and estates.
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The High Court’s recent decision in the Armstrong v Armstrong case has highlighted the potential issues that can arise among farming families when it comes to succession planning. In this article we define proprietary estoppel, provide a background on the case and reveal the court's decision, providing key takeaways for farming families to consider when succession planning.
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Kerry Morgan-Gould
Partner and Head of Trusts & Estates
+44 (0)1392 334154 k.morgan-gould@ashfords.co.uk View more
