Laura recently acted for a respondent to an application made in the Court of Protection for a statutory will on behalf of a well-known fashion journalist who has now lost capacity (P). Our client was P‘s long-time friend and PA. P executed wills in 2018 and 2016 but the applicant‘s case was that these were invalid, as she alleged that P lacked capacity and was being unduly influenced by our client to increase our client‘s provision.

This case was unusual because it was brought in the Court of Protection whilst P is alive, in circumstances where it would usually be brought as a contentious probate claim following P‘s death. Further, the 2018 and 2016 wills were drafted by an experienced professional in order to establish P‘s capacity to make those wills. The applicant applied to the Court of Protection for the trial to be expedited because P‘s life expectancy had diminished. There were also several charities involved, which further complicated the case.

Our client was also assisted by our criminal team in respect of a criminal investigation and our reputation management team. We successfully settled the Court of Protection dispute on the eve of trial – when the trial judge indicated he agreed with our case after reading the papers – which benefitted our client, who will receive life-changing sums under the terms of the will.