The late emergence of a will won’t trump the costs consequences of inactivity & non co-operation, as Michael Ashdown explains
- If litigation over a deceased’s estate is caused by the poor state in which the deceased’s papers were left, the parties’ costs should be borne by the estate.
The recent case of Gaskin v Chorus Law Ltd and another [2019] EWHC 616 (Ch) is important in terms of how to deal with the costs implications of the late discovery of a will which affects ongoing proceedings.
The deceased died in June 2012. She was apparently intestate and left a residential property worth £320,000 and about £70,000 in bank and building society accounts and shares. A few months later, the claimant son of the deceased and the second defendant, who was the deceased’s daughter, instructed the first defendant probate company as personal representative of the deceased’s estate. The second defendant executed a power of attorney in favour of the first defendant, which obtained letters of administration expressed to be for the second defendant’s use and benefit.
By April 2015, the property
