Birdseye And Privilege

Obtaining information, and then being able to use it, brings obvious benefits to those seeking to put right errors in the will drafting process or the administration of an estate (or trust). Often that information is held by solicitors who can claim privilege. Overcoming that obstacle may be critical to being able to establish your entitlement.

The High Court has ruled that the longstanding legal principle that an act of one executor binds all the executors overrides the general rule that where clients jointly instruct a solicitor a single client cannot waive privilege over documents without the other's consent. In other words, where executors jointly instruct a solicitor, any one of them can waive privilege over confidential documents relating to that instruction.