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gifts made before death may be set aside if the donor does not have mental capacity

Setting aside gifts – mental capacity

16 October 2017 6:00 am

The High Court has recently stepped in to set aside gifts made by a donor shortly before his death, and when he was suffering from dementia so his mental capacity was in question. Not strictly speaking a ‘will dispute’, but readers will recognise some of the issues in Connolly v Connolly & Anor [2017] NICh 8 relating to the donor’s mental capacity as similar to those that can arise in a […]

A statutory will is a lifesaver for those who do not have capacity to make a will, but they are not always immune from challenge

Challenging a Statutory Will – ‘best interests’ count

31 July 2017 6:05 am

In the recent case of ADS v DSM (2017 EWCOP 8) a Statutory Will drawn up by the Court of Protection was overturned following a challenge by one of the beneficiaries. In most cases, a statutory will is unlikely to be challenged. Despite that general rule, in ADS v DSM, one of the sons of the incapacitated testator did successfully challenge his mother’s statutory will because of failures in the […]