Brian Sloan participates in 5 Stone Buildings "Ilott and Beyond" Conference

Brian Sloan recently spoke at a conference organised by 5 Stone Buildings, "Ilott and Beyond: The Inheritance Act in the Spotlight". 

In Ilott v The Blue Cross, the first decision on the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 at the highest judicial level, the Supreme Court considered the competing claims of the animal charities included in a woman's will and her estranged adult daughter, who was excluded from the will but living in necessitous circumstances.  The daughter’s award was reduced from the level granted by the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court emphasised the importance of testamentary freedom.

The conference, attended mainly by wills and probate practitioners, aimed to consider the implications of Ilott and other recent cases for future claims under the 1975 Act.  Other speakers included 5 Stone Buildings’ members Penelope Reed QC and Hugh Cumber, who represented the charities before the Supreme Court. 

As well as participating in a panel discussion, Brian gave a paper addressing testamentary freedom from a broader, comparative perspective, and his paper compared the result in Ilott with similar claims that might be brought in Ireland and Scotland. 

The notes and slides from the conference are available on the 5 Stone Buildings website.

Brian has also recorded a Law in Focus video and written an OUP blog post on Ilott. He has also recently taken on the authorship of Borkowski’s Law of Succession, publishing a 3rd edition of this text with OUP that very significantly updates the book since its last edition with the original author, published in 2002.