Expertise

Judith acts on a range of disputes relating to wills and probate, including questions of undue influence, lack of capacity, want of knowledge and approval and claims under the Inheritance Act.

She also advises trustees and beneficiaries in the resolution of issues arising from the administration of trusts, including trustee removal, questions of validity, and complex international trust restructuring.

Judith acts on matters in the Court of Protection involving those who lack capacity, and has also acted on a number of appeals to the Privy Council from jurisdictions including Bermuda, Trinidad and Tobago and the British Virgin Islands.

She has experience of alternative dispute resolution, including mediation.

Experience

Judith’s recent experience includes:

• Acting for two defendants to a landmark Inheritance Act claim
• Advising a beneficiary of a valuable trust structure in restructuring proceedings
• Acting for the successful appellant in Wong v Grand View Private Trust Company [2022] UKPC 47

Career

Judith studied music at Cambridge University. She trained at Farrer & Co and spent three years at BDB Pitmans before joining Stewarts in 2021.

Accreditations and Memberships

Judith is an associate member of the Association of Contentious Trusts and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS). She is also a member of the Contentious Trusts Association (ConTrA).

Publications and speaking engagements

• ‘Are executors invincible?’ (ThoughtLeaders4 Disputes, November 2023)
• ‘Stress testing trust processes and structures: Can anything be bombproof?’ (speaking on a panel at ThoughtLeaders4 Private Client Guernsey and Jersey, September and October 2023)
• ‘Recent trends in litigation’ (International Family Offices Journal, September 2023)
• ‘Contentious Probate – A Round Up of Recent Case Law & Developments’ (MBL webinar, September 2023)
• Examining Public Trustee v Cooper applications’ (MBL webinar, January 2023)
• ‘PR Efforts for Complicated Clients – Privacy in a Time of Scrutiny’ (speaking on a panel at ThoughtLeaders4 Private Client Jersey, October 2022)
• ‘In the public eye’ (STEP Journal, August 2022)
• Featured on the episode ‘Prince Philip’s Will Must Be Secret for 90 Years’ on the podcast Is That Even Legal? (February 2022) and quoted on the same subject in an article by CNN (November 2021)
• ‘Testamentary capacity: Goodfellow for our times’ (Trusts and Estates Law & Tax Journal, July/August 2021)

Recognition

• Judith is listed as a key lawyer in The Legal 500.
• Judith is described in Legal 500 as “a very bright and hard-working associate. Extremely responsive, a pleasure to deal with and takes on lots of responsibility”.