A Practitioner's Guide to Probate Disputes

Book excerpt: This new edition of A Practitioner's Guide to Probate Disputes provides an invaluable guide to the relevant legal framework and the basis on which a will and other testamentary provisions may be challenged. This second edition details the issues that personal representatives must deal with, including grounds for their removal and replacement; lifetime testamentary dispositions and claims; the challenges that can be made in relation to them, and the new measures introduced in relation to the execution and attestation of a will as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also specifically covers wills procured as a result of fraud. This book supplies guidance as to best practice and sets out examples from recent case law to illustrate the legal requirements and the problems which can arise from poor will drafting and a failure to investigate sufficiently all the circumstances relating to the testator/testatrix and their capacity to make a will. New chapters are included on burial disputes and personal representatives. The chapter on procedure for making applications has been expanded to include Pre-Actions steps and disclosure generally. A comprehensive commentary on liability for costs has also been added.