Owen Curry

Owen regularly advises on and appears in disputes involving trusts, the administration of estates and probate claims, and on questions of the construction of wills and trusts. He also has experience of applications made under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

He also advises and acts for charities in the context of contentious probate disputes, construction questions, schemes and technical charity law questions.

He has advised and acted in application under the Variation of Trusts Act 1958.

His experience includes:

• Berger v Schuman (2024) unreported a successful application for directions in the administration of an estate including orders for sale of property.
• Rahman v Hassan [2024] EWHC 1290; [2024] WTLR 1069: a decision dealing with unresolved issues concerning the law of deathbed gifts.
• Harrison v Barrett [2023] 2 WLUK 616 and 617: a probate dispute based on allegations of undue influence and lack of capacity.
• Alizade v Kudlick [2023] EWHC 1082; [2023] WTLR 797 an application for information from former trustees.
• Titcombe v Ison [2021] WTLR 1101: a claim to an extensive collection of jewelry said to be subject to a secret trust
• Richman v WAG Davidson (2020) a successful contested application to remove an executor
• Re Collins (2017): a dispute which turned on the limitation period applicable to claims by executors to recover wrongly paid legacies
• Kunicki v Hayward [2016] EWHC 3199: a probate dispute involving allegations of fraudulent calumny
• Hamilton v Hamilton [2016] EWHC 1132: a two week trial led by Steven Thompson QC concerning whether a Lichtenstein foundation fell into the residuary estate of the deceased.
• Kaki v Kaki [2015] EWHC 3692: the trial of a dispute between siblings regarding the trusts on which property purchased by their father was held.
• Re Raglan (deceased): a dispute involving a claim to the deceased estate based on the doctrine of proprietary estoppel.
• A successful application for summary judgment regarding a allegedly forged will
• Advising on the use and scope of a power of appointment in a will to create charitable trusts Advising on the effect of a conveyance under the School Sites Act 1841
• Advising charitable residuary beneficiaries regarding whether property did or did not fall into residue when the will referred to a deed of trust which was not in fact executed
• Advising charitable beneficiaries regarding the effect of a conditional gift of property – the condition in that case being void as a repugnant condition against alienation
• Advising regarding the gifts to different charities in a will from the 1930s including questions of lapse, Cy-pres and perpetuity
• Advising on the validity of a testamentary trust including on the question of remoteness and perpetuity.
• Advising on the construction of a will containing poorly identified gifts to charity.
• Assisting an offshore law firm with an extensive disclosure exercise in a claim by beneficiaries against the trust’s former trustees.
• Advising on the validity of exercise of powers by trustees; one case involved the question of whether the trustees of a death in service pension has power to pay the fund to beneficiaries that the deceased had not nominated.
• Applications by personal representatives for directions in the administration of an estate.
• Applications for a Re Benjamin type order.
• A dispute regarding the incidents of the deceased’s tax liabilities on his estate in circumstances where the deceased had made a specific bequest of his business.
• Obtaining an order removing an executor under s. 50 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985; the order including provision for the delivery up of estate papers.
• An Inheritance Act claim by the brother of the deceased and his family in respect of a farm owned by the deceased.
• Advice on the validity of a will made a few days before death and on the effect of an option to purchase contained in the will.
• An off-shore probate claim in which lack of capacity, undue influence and want of knowledge and approval are alleged.
• Advice regarding the construction of a will in which there was a possible miss-description of the residuary legatee.
• Acting for the executor of an allegedly forged will.