A Practical Guide to the Construction and Rectification of Wills and Trust Instruments

Private client practitioners dealing with estates and trusts routinely encounter drafting problems. These can be of many different types, from an ambiguous clause in a home-made will to a precedent clause included by mistake in a professionally prepared trust deed. They can also arise in very different contexts: while some can be resolved by agreement, others will result in a full-blown court battle, possibly accompanied by professional negligence proceedings against the draftsman. This book is designed as a practical guide to overcoming drafting problems. As well as considering the court’s modern approach to the construction and rectification of both wills and trust instruments, it includes practical guidance on how to try to deal with drafting problems by agreement and, if that fails, on how to ask the court to resolve them. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Edward Hewitt is a barrister at 5 Stone Buildings in Lincoln’s Inn. He has a private client practice with a particular emphasis on inheritance and trust disputes. He is frequently asked to advise on the correct construction of wills and trust instruments. He has also acted in some of the leading recent cases involving the construction and rectification of wills and trust instruments, some of which have included ancillary professional negligence proceedings against the relevant draftsman.