The claimant sought leave to appeal refusal of access to the will of Princess Margaret. He wished to prove that he was her illegitimate son. The will had been subject to an order providing that its contens were not to be published.
Held: ‘Sections 124 and 125 of the 1981 Act deal with access to documents, namely wills, that are under the control of the court. Those sections provide that wills are to be open to inspection ‘subject to the control of the High Court’. Rule 58 of the NCPR makes provision for the court to determine that a will shall not be open to inspection if such inspection ‘would be undesirable or otherwise inappropriate’. No procedure is laid down for seeking or resisting an order that a will is not to be open to inspection. ‘ However the process under which this and other wills had been sealed was not itself transparent and no reasons had been given. The claimant should be given opportunity to argue his case.
Judges:
Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers CJ, Thorpe LJ, Dyson Lj
Citations:
[2008] EWCA Civ 56, [2008] 1 WLR 2327, [2008] 1 WLR 2327
Links:
Statutes:
Supreme Court Act 1981, Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987 3
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Lewis v Lewis 1904
An executor owes no duty to inform a legatee of the terms of his legacy. . .
Appeal from – Brown v HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, the Executors of the Estate of and others FD 5-Jul-2007
The plaintiff sought the unsealing of the wills of the late Queen Mother and of the late Princess Margaret, claiming that these would assist him establishing that he was the illegitimate son of the latter.
Held: The application was frivolous. . .
Cited by:
Cited – Re Benmusa FD 14-Mar-2017
No Access to will of Princess Margaret
The claimant sought to have unsealed the will of the late Princess Margaret.
Held: The application was struck out: ‘The applicant has not articulated any intelligible basis for her claim. The facts alleged by the applicant neither assert nor . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Wills and Probate
Updated: 13 July 2022; Ref: scu.264268