- Fact finding commences with the taking of evidence of reliable, contemporaneous documents.
- Proper and appropriate weight should be given to expert evidence.
It is reasonable to expect that where expert evidence is given by a well-qualified expert in an established field, the court would need very good reasons to disregard it. But to what extent is this required and how far should the judge go in giving reasonable grounds for disregarding what is, prima facie, good and persuasive expert evidence?
In Brunt v Wrangle [2021] 1 WLUK 332, Mr Justice Green heard the appeal of two appellants in probate proceedings. These were the mother and brother of a deceased person who had originally been granted letters of administration on the basis that the deceased had died intestate. Some ten years after the grant, an uncle of the deceased, supported by the deceased’s sister, had come forward with a document purporting to be a will made by the deceased in 1999.
