Will Validity and Capacity in Practice Online Conference

Welcome to our half day live online conference on Will Validity and Capacity. This conference is produced in association with St John's Chambers. 

Questions about will validity, testamentary capacity and suspicious circumstances continue to give rise to some of the most difficult and sensitive disputes in private client practice. These cases often involve grieving families, disputed memories, incomplete records, allegations of pressure or impropriety, and estates where the financial and emotional stakes are high.

This practical half day conference brings together members of the St John's Chambers Wills & Trusts team to examine the key issues that arise when wills are challenged, defended or investigated. The conference will focus on both the legal principles and the practical steps practitioners can take to reduce risk, strengthen evidence and deal effectively with disputes when they arise.

The programme will cover the core grounds of challenge, including capacity, knowledge and approval, undue influence, fraudulent calumny and forgery, as well as important practical issues such as heading off disputes, insolvent estates and deeds of variation. It is designed for solicitors, will drafters, private client practitioners, contentious probate lawyers and others advising on wills, estates and inheritance disputes.

This is a half day online conference and will be streamed live, direct to your desktop, tablet or phone, wherever you are in the world. You can either watch the conference live, or recorded after the event. In each case you will receive a free video recording of the complete conference

The price for this is £249 + VAT. This is a per organisation price, so up to 20 of your colleagues can participate at no extra charge, even if they are viewing it from a different location or at a different time. So, of course, if there are 11 of you the cost per delegate would be just £22.64

Firms with four or less partners can purchase a single place at the conference for £99 + VAT

To book a place on the conference please click on the box at the top right. If you don't know all the names of your delegates, you can still book for those you know and add additional free delegates at a later date. All free delegates need to be registered in order to receive joining instructions.

The topics to be covered are:

• How to Head Off Will Disputes Before They Escalate
• Testamentary Capacity: Assessing, Recording and Challenging Capacity in Practice
• Knowledge and Approval: Suspicious Circumstances and Practical Evidential Issues
• Undue Influence in Will Disputes: Proving Pressure, Coercion and Vulnerability
• Fraudulent Calumny: Poisoning the Testator’s Mind and the Evidential Challenges
• Insolvent Estates: Practical and Legal Issues for Private Client Practitioners
• Deeds of Variation: Opportunities, Risks and Common Pitfalls
• Forgery and False Wills: Identifying, Pleading and Proving the Allegation

The conference sessions will be delivered by the following members of St John's Chambers Wills & Trusts team:

Chair: Georgina Thompson

• Alex Troup KC
• Dan Soar  
• Fran D’Argenio 
• Oliver Wooding 
• Annie Sampson 
• Ben Harwood 
• Jack Pankhurst  
• Chris Jones 

Chambers' recent accolades include winning ‘Chambers of the Year’ at the 2025 Bristol Legal Awards, Legal 500’s Set Outside London of the Year (winner 2022, shortlisted 2023–2025), and Regional Set of the Year by Chambers UK Bar Guide (2024)

Important Notes about Booking

1. Payment can be made by credit or debit card or alternatively by invoice. The option to pay by invoice is below the pay by card option in the booking form

2. If you have more than 20 delegates then extra delegates are £20 each. Contact us at info@legaltrainingconsultancy.co.uk to arrange this

3. If you don't have the complete list of who will be attending you can book for those that you know will be attending and add the others at a later date

4. If you would like to submit questions in advance to the speakers please send them to info@legaltrainingconsultancy.co.uk

5. Please ensure that, when booking, you get colleagues' email addresses entirely correct as failure to do so will probably mean that they will not receive joining instructions and will not be able to take part in the conference

The Legal Training Consultancy

The Legal Training Consultancy is a full-service training consultancy with a large portfolio of conferences, courses and trainers. Over the years we have been responsible for putting together a vast number of law, tax and management related conferences, webinars, seminars, videos and e-learning modules. Altogether more than 2200.