Clare is a Solicitor in our Contentious Trusts and Probate team, specialising in a wide variety of disputes arising after death.
With a strong background in advising national and local charities, Clare has a particular focus on legacy recovery and navigating disputes with sensitivity. She also works with private individuals, providing guidance on complex, high-net-worth disputes.
Clare advises on all types of claims arising from Wills, inheritance and trust disputes, including:
Claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975
Disputes involving executors and trustees
Advising trustees in disputes by disappointed beneficiaries
Will validity challenges, including: lack of capacity, undue influence, lack of knowledge and approval, fraud or incorrect execution
Will and trust construction issues
Proprietary estoppel
Professional negligence (including applications to the SRA Compensation Fund).
Charity law
Claire’s experience also extends to working with charities facing a range of disputes. This includes ex-gratia claims, cy-près schemes and legacy administration issues.
Agricultural Disputes
Agriculture and food industry disputes
Charities
Wills, inheritance and trust disputes
Legal cost disputes
Professional negligence
Clare approaches disputes with a pragmatic and sensitive mindset. She aims to achieve swift, cost-effective and beneficial out-of-court settlements, but will pursue litigation when necessary to protect her clients’ interests.
Some of Clare’s recent cases include:
Securing a £300,000 settlement deal for a high-net-worth estate after the deceased was scammed during his lifetime, thereby successfully holding a national bank to account.
Assisting four leading national pet and emergency services charities in recovering a £1 million legacy lost to a Will execution error by the Will drafter.
Applying the cy-près doctrine to facilitate mediation between two national charities in a Will construction dispute, ensuring a far better outcome for her charity client than court proceedings would have provided.
Successfully recovering over £300,000 for an estate from the SRA Compensation Fund after the law firm responsible for mishandling the estate was shut down by the SRA, leaving no option for a professional negligence claim.
Successfully defending two national charities against an ex-gratia claim from disappointed adult children who were disinherited from their mother’s Will.
Advising the trustees of a complex, multimillion-pound landed estate in defending claims from the settlor’s daughter, a disappointed beneficiary.
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