High Court provides guidance on the test for testamentary capacity (Leonard v Leonard)

Table of contents

• What are the practical implications of this case?
• Banks v Goodfellow
• What was the background?
• What did the court decide?
• Case details

Article summary

Private Client analysis: After a 12-day High Court trial, Mrs Justice Joanna Smith DBE upheld the claimants’ claims that their father, Dr Leonard, neither had capacity to execute his purported final Will in October 2015, nor knew and approved of its contents. The judge’s analysis and clarification of the test in Banks v Goodfellow will be of interest to litigators in this area, and is the focus of the analysis in this article. The judgment also reaffirms the role of expert evidence in capacity cases, and acts as a reminder to Private Client lawyers of the important part they play in drafting Wills for elderly or vulnerable people, and a warning for those who get that wrong. Written by George Vare, barrister at Serle Court Chambers, and junior counsel for the claimants.