Even before the Coronavirus outbreak, you may have wondered “Do I need a Will?” or “I’m too young to write a Will”. Although most people writing Wills in the UK are older than 50, you could write a Will from the age of 18.

In a recent case of ours, we were successful in applying to vary a joint lives maintenance order made almost 10 years ago, with payments covering the next few months being capitalised and there being a clean break of income claims. Bearing in mind our client could have continued having to make these monthly payments for the rest of his life this was an excellent result and got us thinking - is now the time to think about challenging the status quo and apply for joint lives orders to be varied?

Martin Oliver, Partner in our Contentious Probate team, answers the question; is contesting a will ever successful?

What are the key best practices to consider when setting up and maintaining a trust?

We review three farming-related proprietary estoppel cases that resulted in trial before a court in 2023 in order for the parties to achieve a resolution - albeit one imposed by the respective judges.

Getting – or being – divorced, or ending a civil partnership, is a timely reminder that your will is a living document that, without regular review, can quickly go out of date and give rise to many unintended consequences. If you have will and have left all, or even just some of, your assets to your spouse, that will remains valid throughout the process of divorcing even if you have separated and are living apart. This means that if you die, your spouse will receive whatever assets you have bequeathed them under the terms of your will.

Proprietary estoppel is a legal remedy that permits people who, having been promised land, property or a combination of both (usually a farm) and relied on that promise to their detriment, to bring a claim if that promise is reneged on.

While trusts are often associated with inheritance planning, they are also an invaluable tool for managing wealth during your lifetime.

Immigration was a key topic in 2016’s EU Referendum debate, and became a major selling point for the Leave campaign. Claims that European Courts were ‘attacking our borders’ and that the system was ‘out of control’ played to a view of an EU-driven UK immigration problem that leaving would solve.

New hiked up skill and salary thresholds are set to put the brakes on work-related immigration after the Easter break. Tougher criteria will apply, but as always, it isn’t straightforward, and employers may struggle to make sense of the new landscape. Matthew Davies, Partner and Head of Business Immigration and Tracie Udall, Partner put the latest changes into context and perspective, and set out the key points.