In an article for LexisNexis, George Vare analyses the recent decision in Leonard v Leonard [2024] EWHC 321 (ChD) in which George appeared as junior counsel for the successful claimants. George was led by Constance McDonnell KC and assisted by Anneliese Mondschein.

After a 12-day High Court trial, Mrs Justice Joanna Smith DBE upheld the claimants’ claims that their father, Dr Leonard, neither had capacity to execute his purported final Will in October 2015, nor knew and approved of its contents. The judge’s analysis and clarification of the test in Banks v Goodfellow will be of interest to litigators in this area, and is the focus of the analysis in this article. The judgment also reaffirms the role of expert evidence in capacity cases, and acts as a reminder to Private Client lawyers of the important part they play in drafting Wills for elderly or vulnerable people, and a warning for those who get that wrong.

To read the article in full, please click here (paywalled).