Nicholas Horton

Expert in these Jurisdictions

England & Wales

Work Highlights

Representing executors on a 7 year estate administration involving the investigation or pursuit / defence of multiple claims or threatened claims largely relating to the Deceased’s valuable London property.

Acting for beneficiaries who alleged that their father’s £multi-million estate was being mis-managed by his executor and by the firm of solicitors instructed by that executor.

Acting for beneficiaries where the Deceased’s more recent Will, largely cutting them out completely and leaving them £millions worse off than they would have been under the previous Will, had been executed in circumstances where the Deceased allegedly lacked capacity and did not know and understand the contents of the new Will.

Applying successfully for permission to bring a 1975 Act claim out of time for a child, and once the claim had successfully concluded, bringing a negligence claim against the child’s former solicitors for residual losses and increased costs resulting from their failure to bring the original claim in time.

Experience

Nick heads up Thomson Snell & Passmore’s team handling Will, Trust & Estate disputes. He specialises in heavyweight cases involving challenges to the validity of Wills, claims under the Inheritance Act 1975, constructive trust and proprietary estoppel matters, cases where there are problems involving the administration of trusts or estates (delay, excessive costs, lack of information, withholding of documents etc), disputes with or between executors or trustees, cases where executors or trustees need to be removed or are being threatened with removal applications, and applications to the court for directions, costs protection or the blessing of decisions / settlements. He also handles professional negligence matters relating to estate or trust administration, Will drafting or tax planning advice.

Nick trained and qualified with the firm. He has over 25 years’ experience as a litigator, gained not just from Will, trust and estate disputes but also from more general commercial disputes, professional negligence cases involving complex property issues, and planning law. This enables him to see the wider picture, and to bring a strategic approach to his matters for the benefit of his clients.

He always strives to obtain the best results, knowing tactically when to issue or defend court proceedings and when to try to compromise through negotiation or more formal ADR. He always has clients’ best interests in mind, questioning whether the cost (and potential exposure for opponent’s costs) of taking any particular step justifies the likely benefits to be gained by doing so.

“Nicholas Horton’s depth of experience in this area shows in the way he handles cases. His knowledge of the practice area is so clear that clients are soon put at ease.”