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50In Association With...APRIL 2013trustprobateLooking further in to the issuessurrounding contentious trustsand probate, Lawyer Monthlyspeaks to Mark Dubbery, headof the Inheritance andVulnerable Elderly team atPump Court Chambers inLondon.Please introduce yourself, your role andyour firm.We are a large common law set whowork nationally but with particularly strongties to the Western Circuit. We have longhad a particular interest and expertise inclaims under the Inheritance (Provision forFamily and Dependants) Act 1975.Members of the team were involved inthe early cases of Coventry, deceased[1980] Ch 461, Callaghan, deceased[1980] Fam 1, Dawkins, deceased [1986]2 FLR 360, Jessop v Jessop [1992] 1 FLR 591and Davis v Davis [1993] 1 FLR 54.From there we have developed a teamcovering all manner of disputes arising ondeath including probate disputes, claimsfor damages for negligent will making,estoppel, implied trusts. The team, as itsname implies, also specialises in claimsinvolving the vulnerable elderly personsuch as undue influence claims and Courtof Protection work. In reality, of course,claims rarely fit into neat categories so wehave been able to draw upon a lot ofvaluable knowledge and experiencefrom our colleagues particularly in familyfinance and public law and we haverecruited internally as much as externally.We have also established a verysuccessful specialist InheritanceMediation Team under Giles Harrap’sleadership comprising only barristers withlengthy experience of resolving claimsarising on death.What key trusts and probate cases haveyou been involved in recently?Chambers has been involved inHammond v Osborn [2002] WTLR 1125(setting aside pre-death gifts), Chappell vSomers & Blake (a firm) [2004] Ch 19(negligent administration of estate), P v G,P & P (Family Provision: Relevance ofDivorce Provsion) [2006] 1 FLR 431, O’Brianv Seagrave [2007] 1 WLR 2002 (1975 Actclaim as an interest for probate), Ilott vMitson [2011] WTLR 779,(adult child claimsre-visited) , Musa v Holliday [2012] EWCACiv 1268 and Iqbal v Ahmed [2012] 1 FLR31 (Second wife’s claim against childrenof 1st marriage)..What have you found most challengingand how do you feel this practice areahas developed over the course of the lastyear?When I was called to the Bar 17 years agothe expectation was that one wouldspend the majority of one’s working life inCourt. Now a majority of matters that Ideal with are resolved through mediation.I am a huge supporter of mediation butwww.lawyer-monthly.com