One of the grounds for challenging the validity of a will is that the person who made the will did not have the relevant mental capacity to understand his actions.

Technology is becoming an ever-increasing presence in our daily lives. From the moment we wake up, to the moment we hit the pillow again, a bright screen is never more than an arm’s length away.

Agriculture may be the (second?) oldest profession, but it is one that remains ever relevant to modern day life.

Miss Joyce Relton was 93 when she died in August of 2014, leaving a will which gave her house (the most valuable asset she owned) to a “very dear friend”. The rest of her estate was divided amongst her surviving relatives.

At present, it’s hard to miss the daily news reports regarding the growing number of cases of coronavirus and, sadly, the subsequent deaths. As the situation and lock-down looks set to continue over the next few weeks, or potentially months, we expect to receive increasing numbers of enquiries about making a will.

A litigation friend is someone who helps a “protected person” with their legal issues.

The Office for National Statistics reported that in 2020 just under half of all babies in England and Wales were born to unmarried parents. By comparison 5.4% of babies’ parents in 1960 were unmarried. This major societal change has meant that there are more unmarried fathers than ever before who are anxious not to miss out on their children’s lives and want to understand what parental rights they have.

Mali Smith, Legal Director in our Employment Law team reviews the best way to eliminate work related stress and toxic environment and provides ways in which this can be achieved.

It can be a huge relief when financial remedy proceedings come to an end, whether by consent order or through contested court proceedings. Everyone now knows where they stand financially and can start to make plans for and look to the future. This should be the end of matters, but unfortunately that is not always the case.

Martin Oliver, Partner in our Contentious Probate team, discusses the timings of contesting a will.