Lynne Counsell

This Q&A deals with the situation where executors of a Will grant an equitable charge over a property held within the estate in favour of trustees of a NRB discretionary trust established under the Will before transferring the property subject to the charge to the beneficiary of the residue. The question is whether there is any issue in this situation where the executors and trustees are the same people.

This Q&A deals with exit costs on the termination of a contract. The factual position is that a notice was provided to terminate a contract with a supplier. A change request has since been received that includes costs in order for the supplier to close down the account. These costs are substantial and as the agreement is silent on the supplier providing reasonable assistance as part of the exit programme, the Q&A considers whether there is any liability to pay the exit assistance costs.

This Q&A considers the question of whether a person who wishes to contest a Will can recover their costs of investigating the validity of the Will.

This Q&A considers whether a letter of wishes should post-date the Will in order to prevent it becoming a public or disclosable document along with the Will.

This Q&A considers the position where the partners in a firm comprising of two partners are appointed as executors of a Will and only one partner wishes to prove the Will. The question is whether the other partner should have power reserved to them.

This Q&A deals with the situation where a SaaS supplier reserves the right to vary contractual terms without notice by posting the revised contractual term(s) on a specified website address from time to time but without otherwise giving specific notice to the customer. The issue is whether such variation would be valid in a business to business contract and what grounds there might be for challenging this.

The Q&A considers the scenario where one of the trustees of a life interest trust, who is also the life tenant of the trust, has lost mental capacity. It considers whether the life tenant's attorneys and the other trustees can sell the property or whether the life tenant trustee needs to be removed first.

This Q&A considers the applicable procedure for overriding a previous application for grant of letters of administration made by a third party.

This Q&A considers the scenario where the deceased's wife is entitled to the estate under the intestacy rules but does not have mental capacity to administer the estate or to give valid receipt for the estate assets. The estate is insolvent and a pragmatic solution is sought to administer the estate without the delays and costs involved in making an application to the Court of Protection. Various alternative solutions are considered, including the possibility of the beneficiaries agreeing to be cleared off to enable one of the creditors to apply for the Grant of Letters of Administration.

This Q&A considers whether the executor needs to obtain a Grant of Probate in England and Wales in order to issue a claim on behalf of the estate in this jurisdiction where the deceased resided and died outside the UK and the executor has obtained a Grant of Probate in the deceased resident country.

This Q&A considers what happens if a Probate Registry where the grant was issued closes and the Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987 provide that an application has to be made to that Registry.

This Q&A considers the steps that need to be taken to terminate a life insurance trust during the settlor’s lifetime and transfer the policy to the settlor.

This Q&A considers the procedure for disclosure of a Will sought by the deceased’s children when the sole executor and residuary beneficiary refuses to disclose the Will and if there is a right to maintain privacy.

This Q&A considers the requisite action to take when performance of a B2B contract is delayed due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

This Q&A deals with the factual situation where there is an estate with two executors. One executor took charge of applying for probate and instructed solicitors. The same executor claimed that there was a debt owed to them by the estate. The second executor was not a client of the solicitors dealing with probate but still wanted to be an executor. This second executor queried the debt owed, since which time nothing has happened. After the second executor contested the validity of the first executor’s claim, no progress has been made with the estate and no application for probate has been made.

This Q&A considers the situation where charity land is registered in the names of three charity trustees, one of whom has lost mental capacity and the other two trustee which to appoint replacement trustees.

This Q&A considers the option for executors when a legatee’s surname is incorrect.

This Q&A considers the considerations raised when a supplier, who has won a contract subject to the PCR 2015, obtains consent to sub-contract the entire provision of the goods or services to a group company.

This Q&A deals with the provisions on ipso fact clauses introduced by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA 2020). The question is what considerations should practitioners be taking into account when deciding whether or not these provisions apply to agency, introducer, or commission agreements? The question is considered in the context of whether these types of agreements constitute ‘services’ within the meaning of CIGA 2020 and considers the small supplier exemption in the statute.

This Q&A considers the effective date of a caveat.