From: The Will Company
Nina Angelova has successfully won a High Court case to amend her late fiancé Peter John Bryant’s Will, which had been mistakenly drafted due to a solicitor’s clerical error, as reported by The Law Society Gazette.
Bryant, who passed away in December 2020, had a Will prepared by the northwest law firm Gorvins LLP. A significant aspect of the Will involved a discretionary trust containing Bryant’s interest in a German landholding partnership known as BCT.
The Will initially stated that Angelova would be a beneficiary of the BCT trust “provided that we were married at the date of my death.” Seeking a correction, Angelova requested the clause be amended to read “whether or not we are married at the date of my death.”
During the court proceedings, it was revealed that Bryant had created a ‘revised plan’ indicating his intent to treat Angelova as if they were married. He had sent this plan to Christine Thornley, a solicitor at Gorvins, who had taken over drafting the Will on April 17, 2020, after the original solicitor fell ill. Thornley admitted in her witness statement that the final drafts of the Will did not reflect Bryant’s revised plan.
Master Clark, ruling in favour of Angelova, noted that the executors’ counsel conceded Thornley’s failure to incorporate the revised plan was a clear clerical error. This was supported by Thornley’s own admission and was evident from the Will file. Gorvins also acknowledged this mistake.
The judge pointed out that Bryant likely did not notice the discrepancy between his wishes and the final Will because he trusted Thornley to execute his instructions accurately. Had he noticed, he would have undoubtedly brought it to her attention, given his active involvement in the process.
Ultimately, the court ordered the rectification of the Will as Angelova had requested.