Roman Kubiak
Roman Kubiak is a partner and head of the contested wills, trusts and estates team at Hugh James. He acts for individuals, banks and financial institutions, trust companies, professionals and charities.
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FeatureFinal wishes – by text
Roman Kubiak discusses Rahman v Hassan, in which deathbed gifts made by text message were held to be valid
FeatureStep change
Roman Kubiak discusses administrative provisions in wills, following the recent launch of the third edition of the STEP Provisions
FeatureLasting legacies
Roman Kubiak and Emily Welch look at options to help save charitable legacies from failure
FeatureThe generation game
Roman Kubiak looks at how artificial intelligence is likely to change the face of the legal landscape
FeatureThe generation game
Roman Kubiak looks at how artificial intelligence is likely to change the face of the legal landscape
FeatureIn the red: debts, insolvency and duties of personal representatives
As the cost-of-living crisis and talks of another recession increasingly hit the headlines, Roman Kubiak, partner and head of the Contested Wills, Trusts and Estates team at Hugh James, and Emily Peacock, trainee solicitor, discuss the thorny topic of debts, insolvency and the duties of personal representatives.
FeatureActing the part
Roman Kubiak and Meg Edwards investigate the often contentious issue of trustee remuneration, with reference to the latest case law
FeatureNo provisions offered for estranged widow despite will and long marriage
Roman Kubiak, partner and head of contested wills, trusts and estates at Hugh James, and Meg Edwards, trainee solicitor, discuss the recent decision in Ramus v Holt & Ors, where the High Court dismissed a wife’s claim for financial provision from her husband’s estate despite their long marriage.
FeatureTrusted professionals: Re Townsend [2022] EWCA Civ 880
Roman Kubiak analyses a recent case where a trustee charged a monthly fee for her services over a 12-year period, leading the Court of Appeal to confirm that non-trust professionals can only be remunerated for trust administration work undertaken within the course of their specific profession
Feature“Gesture” for a good will
Roman Kubiak and Emily Peacock discuss a recent case in which the High Court admitted a copy of a deceased’s will found on their computer to probate.
FeatureSevering a joint tenancy without notice
Roman Kubiak discusses the recent decision of Dunbabin v. Dunbabin [2022] EWHC 241(Ch), in which the court found that a joint tenancy had been severed despite the absence of a notice.
FeaturePredatory marriages and protecting the vulnerable
Roman Kubiak looks at the recent Court of Protection decision in Re BU [2021] EWCOP54, an application brought by BU’s family in an effort to protect a vulnerable person from contacting a man who they feared would force her to marry him.
FeatureAward for success
Roman Kubiak discusses recent judgments where success fees have been awarded to a claimant under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, and how “moral claims” to estates are evidenced.
FeatureThe royal seal
Following the news that Prince Philip’s will is to be sealed from the public for 90 years, Roman Kubiak looks at the legal mechanisms behind this and queries whether wills should be made public at all.
FeatureNo shopping around!
Roman Kubiak and Oliver Rees discuss their recent case in which an Irish executor was ordered to transfer assets from the deceased’s Irish estate to an English executor to settle debts in England and to avoid “forum shopping”.
FeatureRokkan a hard place
Roman Kubiak discusses an interesting probate case in which the surviving spouse circumvented Norwegian succession rules after acquiring Anglo-Welsh domicile.
FeatureGuideline hourly rates again under the microscope
Roman Kubiak looks at the recent decision in Cohen v Fine and others [2020] EWHC 3278 (Ch), an appeal from a first-instance decision in which the High Court proposed an increase to the guideline hourly rates.
FeatureUplifting hourly rates for Court of Protection assessments
Roman Kubiak looks at the recent decision in the linked cases of PLK & Ors, in which the Senior Courts Costs Office assessed the costs in four cases at 20% above the guideline hourly rates.
FeatureWill-wrangling – exceptions not rules in Wrangle v Brunt
Roman Kubiak looks at a recent High Court decision which approved the validity of a will signed, at the testator’s direction, by his attorney – and which ordered the deceased’s estate to pay the costs for both parties.