About Chancery Trusts and Probate
Madison Legal’s team of litigation solicitors and barristers have extensive experience dealing with all types of “traditional” and commercial” chancery work, including trusts, probate, and property disputes.
Our trusts barristers deal with both traditional and commercial chancery work and specialise in high value and complex disputes including claims involving offshore companies and multi-jurisdictional issues.
Our probate barristers and chancery lawyers advise on a wide range of legal, regulatory, and practical issues including the exercise of trust discretions and powers, investment and asset management, indemnities, disputes between trustees and beneficiaries in addition to disclosure, confidentiality, and regulatory compliance.
Guides
Our team of contentious probate lawyers, led by Daniel Feetham KC, can also advise and act in relation to claims involving probate claims. These include inheritance claims, any issues over the validity of a will, including issues of testamentary capacity and undue influence), and professional negligence claims involving the administration of the estate.
As contentious probate specialists, we can also advise family members who have been left out of a will or have not received as much as they were expecting from the deceased’s estate.
Partnership disputes usually fall into two categories:
- Those partnership governed by a Partnership Agreement
- And those governed by (the default partnership terms set out in) the Partnership Act 1890 for those partners who did not have a Partnership Agreement.
The most common instances giving rise to partnership disputes are:
- Disagreements around the running and management of the partnership;
- Allegations that one or more of the partners have taken a “secret profit;”
- Allegations that a partner is not performing satisfactorily;
- Allegations that a partner is misappropriating funds, including theft and fraud;
- Absence of a partner from a partnership or retirement of a partner from a partnership.
The probate barristers and litigation team at Madison Legal understands that partnership disputes are expensive and disruptive. Therefore, we will provide cost effective and strategic advice from the onset to minimise disruption to the business.
This may involve advising engaging in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), such as Mediation or Expert Determination that may result in a swift, fair, and cost-effective resolution to the dispute.
Our litigation solicitors are very experienced in dealing with partnership disputes by way of court proceedings and arbitration and are also experienced at negotiating sensible and cost-effective resolutions by ADR, either used either before proceedings are commenced or during such proceedings.
At Madison Legal, our expert legal team is able to assist in a broad range of civil disputes
Other Practice Areas
Commercial Litigation
Our team of commercial litigation barristers is ideally placed to assist with a range of civil and commercial
Insolvency
The Madison Legal insolvency solicitors and barristers have a wealth of experience acting for and against liquidators, trustees
Financial Services, Insurance & Technology
Madison Legal team of financial solicitors and barristers have an established track record of advising and representing clients
Questions & Answers
‘Traditional Chancery’ broadly encompasses the areas of Chancery work that might concern the lives of private individuals, for example, trusts, probate, lack of capacity issues, and residential land issues.
‘Commercial Chancery’ concerns the aspects of Chancery work involved in the business world, for example, company law disputes, corporate insolvencies, partnership disputes, large commercial trusts, banking and financial services disputes, and recovering assets when a business has been defrauded.
The Chancery Division of the High Court deals with disputes involving:
- business, property, and land
- domestic and international trade
- UK and European competition law
- bankruptcy
- intellectual property issues
- partnership claims
- trusts
- probate and whether a will is valid
Trust Disputes
Our chancery barristers and solicitors have an established track record of advising and representing both professional and lay clients in relation to disputes involving trusts or trust assets.
A trust dispute is any dispute relating to the administration or validity of a trust or a claim by or against the trust. Whether you are involved in a dispute over the value of trust assets, or trust dispute, a trustee dealing with feuding beneficiaries or need to know how to remove a trustee, we can help.
Our contentious trusts barristers are able to both trustees and beneficiaries on:
- domestic trust disputes;
- offshore and international trust disputes including trusts based in the Channel Islands, BVI, Dubai, Gibraltar, Cayman Islands and Bermuda - with the assistance of our international “partner” firms With the assistance of our international “partner” firms
- the interpretation or validity of a trust;
- issues over assets of a trust;
- professional negligence claims against trustees or third parties, such as accountants;
- disputes between trustees;
- disputes between beneficiaries;
- the removal and appointment of trustees;
- claims by or against trusts;
- issues around trust assets; and
- variation of trusts.
Our trusts barristers and chancery solicitors, headed by Daniel Feetham KC offer clear guidance and early strategic advice on your options to give you the optimal advantage in bringing or defending such disputes, including advising on issues over jurisdiction and any interim remedies (such as security for costs application or freezing injunctions).
