Will Drafting

Consequences of will Revocation

There was a recent interesting case in the High Court concerning revocation. The conclusion of the case may be a surprise or a concern. The…

Lapse and married beneficiaries

Last week I took the opportunity to suggest that it is always worthwhile to remind those drafting wills to consider the issue of gift over…

Gift over

When will drafting one naturally looks at the wishes of the testator and who are the intended beneficiaries. However all too often practitioners fail to…

Residuary Clauses – Partial Intestacy

We all know the importance of having a residuary clause, however, it is not something that clients focus on and we as practitioners must provide…

Conflicting Irish and Foreign Wills

Judge Butler in a recent case has ruled that a revocation clause in a UK will revokes an Irish will. The case is a timely…

Children born outside marriage and intestacy

In intestacy cases there are certain key rules that we all keep in mind. For example, we know that the share of a pre-deceased child…

Obligation of personal representative to ex-spouse of deceased

There are many obligations of personal representatives in the context of an estate, but one particular explicit obligation is set out, not in the Succession…

Gifts to adopted children by natural parents

I’m really dating myself here. But was your early childhood full of M*A*S*H*, Basil Brush and the Little House on the Prairie? Well maybe it…

Impact of adoption on s. 117 claims

I have been looking at various elements of section 117 claims over the last number of emails. Just a quick one on this. If a…

Civil partners and s. 117 claims

You might recall last week that I mentioned that s. 117 applications cannot succeed where a spouse inherits, because spousal bequests are exempt from challenge…