All articles by Roman Kubiak

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    Feature

    Step change

    2024-06-18T13:25:00Z

    Roman Kubiak discusses administrative provisions in wills, following the recent launch of the third edition of the STEP Provisions

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    Lasting legacies

    2023-11-30T15:49:00Z

    Roman Kubiak and Emily Welch look at options to help save charitable legacies from failure

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    Feature

    The generation game

    2023-08-10T00:00:00Z

    Roman Kubiak looks at how artificial intelligence is likely to change the face of the legal landscape

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    Feature

    The generation game

    2023-06-21T11:21:00Z

    Roman Kubiak looks at how artificial intelligence is likely to change the face of the legal landscape 

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    Feature

    In the red: debts, insolvency and duties of personal representatives

    2022-12-12T09:18:00Z

    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.

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    Feature

    Acting the part

    2022-11-16T09:46:00Z

    Roman Kubiak and Meg Edwards investigate the often contentious issue of trustee remuneration, with reference to the latest case law

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    Feature

    No provisions offered for estranged widow despite will and long marriage

    2022-09-29T08:31:00Z

    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. 

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    Feature

    Trusted professionals: Re Townsend [2022] EWCA Civ 880

    2022-07-29T11:19:00Z

    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

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    Feature

    “Gesture” for a good will

    2022-06-10T14:14:00Z

    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.

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    Severing a joint tenancy without notice

    2022-04-04T13:17:00Z

    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.

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    Predatory marriages and protecting the vulnerable

    2022-02-01T16:26:00Z

    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.

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    Award for success

    2021-11-10T14:23:00Z

    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.

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    Feature

    The royal seal

    2021-09-22T16:17:00Z

    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.

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    Feature

    Workshop: Contentious probate

    2021-09-21T00:00:00Z

    Roman Kubiak rounds up his workshop on contentious probate

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    Feature

    No shopping around!

    2021-06-16T11:11:00Z

    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”.

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    Feature

    Rokkan a hard place

    2021-04-20T15:01:00Z

    Roman Kubiak discusses an interesting probate case in which the surviving spouse circumvented Norwegian succession rules after acquiring Anglo-Welsh domicile.

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    Feature

    Guideline hourly rates again under the microscope

    2021-01-12T14:09:00Z

    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.

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    Uplifting hourly rates for Court of Protection assessments

    2020-10-30T12:05:00Z

    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.

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    Will-wrangling – exceptions not rules in Wrangle v Brunt

    2020-09-18T10:15:00Z

    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.

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    High Court awards claimant success fee in Inheritance Act claim

    2020-06-18T11:19:00Z

    Roman Kubiak looks at a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (Inheritance Act) where the sum awarded by given by the court included a payment towards the claimant’s success fee.