Paola Fudakowska & Henrietta Mason examine recent wills & probate decisions
- Davies and another v Davies : an appeal of a proprietary estoppel decision.
- Hamilton v Hamilton : High Court considers the question of whether assets held in a Liechtenstein Foundation in fact formed part of the deceased’s estate such as to be distributed under the terms of his will.
Davies and another v Davies [2016] EWCA Civ 463, [2016] All ER (D) 09 (Jun), deals with an appeal of a proprietary estoppel decision. The claimant (C) worked intermittently on her parents’ dairy farm throughout her adult life. She did so for little or no pay, working long and anti-social hours and giving up a well-paid career. C did so on the expectation that she would inherit all or part of farm and/or farm business. Her parents made various promises to this effect throughout the period 1985 to 2008.
C made a successful claim based on proprietary estoppel, although the court at first instance rejected her claim for the whole farm but awarded her £1.3m. C’s parents appealed the level of the financial
