Court of Appeal overturns trial judge’s decision on testamentary capacity (Hughes v Pritchard)

Article summary

Private Client analysis: In Hughes v Pritchard, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the trial judge in a probate claim (see Hughes v Pritchard and others (High Court decision)) that a testator lacked testamentary capacity, concluding that the judge’s conclusion was ‘not open to him on the evidence’. The judge had concluded that the last Will of the deceased was invalid on the grounds of a lack of testamentary capacity, despite the Will-drafting solicitor and medical professional determining that he did have such capacity at the time, and despite an expert report supporting that contention. The Court of Appeal’s decision is therefore a very rare example of an appellate court reversing the factual conclusions of the trial judge. The judgment critically assesses the trial judge’s assessment of the evidence by reference to the key authorities in this area of practice. Written by Elis Gomer, barrister at St John’s Buildings and junior counsel for the appellant (led...