Permanent Caveat

[magenta]

Hello
Hoping someone can advise me (again), am I entitled to see any statements that a claiment states they have and are indeed using quotes from the statements to make a claim.
If not at what point am I entitled to see such statements.
Thank you in advance
Magenta

[Amethyst]

What kind of claim ? personal injury ? defamation ? debt ? .... and are these like witness statements ? or things like copies of online content?

Sorry, it's a little bit too vague at the mo - but normally if a claim / statement of case mentions statements you can ask for copies under cpr 31.14.

[des8]

I think this connects with magenta 's previous post (http://legalbeagles.info/forums/foru...rmanent-caveat) and perhaps they could be merged if that is confirmed..

Probably one for Peridot

[magenta]

Hi
Yes still ongoing, I just cannot get them to forward on the statements or fully finalize their claim even asking several times they just ignor our requests.

I have now been presented with a medical expert report which spends most of the report on the comments of statement from witness statements that they just will not forward on.

[Amethyst]

Merging with other thread - that makes a lot more sense.

[Peridot]

Hi Magenta,
Has a claim actually been made as yet? Have you asked for copies of the documents sent to the expert that are referred to in his report?
Do you still have your solicitor and what have they recommended?

[magenta]

Hi Peridot
As regard to a claim being made they filed the claim with the court although not in a correct format.
Which we have complained about to the court.
Our solicitor requested all copies of the paperwork that was used to compile the medical report. Most of the medical report is quoting the witness statements to compile the report. Our solicitor never received any response to the requests of the paperwork which is part of the course of this case he then decided to send a second letter which still did not get a response.
Yes we do still have a solicitor but at the moment has not recommended anything.
We have continually requested documments but unfortunately they ignor our requests and do not response at all.
The solicitor even requested mediation but once again no response.

Magenta

[Peridot]

So frustrating for you. All I would say is you are acting correctly. Any Judge will have little sympathy with their refusal to cooperate particularly when you have also offered to mediate.
Unfortunately there is little that can be done and pushing continually will only incur further legal costs for you at this stage. Now the claim has actually been made the Court will set a timetable and your solicitor will guide you and should make any necessary requests for documents along the way, which can be backed up with a Court Order, which they will have to comply with or risk being in contempt.

[magenta]

Hi Peridot
Thank you very much for all your help and guidance.
Will keep you updated.
Magenta

[magenta]

Hi Peridot

Just to update, now the claim has being sent to the right court. Although it is still in the wrong procedure and we are awaiting court direction as the claiment has not withdrawn the claim .
We have been asked as executors if we would agree to go to mediation?

Nothing has changed as far as we are concerned as the particulars of the claim has not been finalized etc and we are advised by the claiment that if we go we are liable to pay our own costs etc as it cannot come from the estate.

Do we as executors have any address to any of these costs that we are getting and is this person in any position to be making such demands about going to mediation or should we wait for the court direction as we feel they should get the costs for this bad behaviour .

Or will we as executors be penalised if we do not agree to this mediaiton terms. Although I do feel what the hell are we mediating about at this stage.

Your thoughts would be very much appreciated.

Magenta

[Peridot]

Hi Magenta,

It continues to be frustrating then! Your solicitor is probably not wishing to incur additional costs on your behalf by chasing and trying to engage in unnecessary correspondence. To clarify are you talking about the executors costs of mediation being paid by the executors or the Court application and hearings etc?

If it is the mediation, then generally each side would bear their own costs. Irritating when you don't know what the claimant is even looking to achieve with their application, but there it is. It is a case of weighing up the potential costs to the estate of defending the Will, whether the Court is likely to award any costs from the claimant if they lost and the cost of mediating and whether settlement could be agreed. All very difficult to assess when you don't even have complete information about what the claimant is trying to claim!

It seems that currently the claimant hasn't indicated whether they are making a claim against the estate (ie accepting the Will is valid) or just disputing the Will (which would lead potentially to a very different outcome with administrators appointed and the Will ignored altogether). Do correct me if I have missed something here.

It is difficult to make any decision with regard to a possible settlement through negotiation, if they are disputing the Will and have made no other claim. The Will is either valid or not which then would change the entire outcome. If this is a claim against the estate because they believe they are somehow entitled to a sum, then at least you have a starting point to assess with your solicitor what a Court may or may not award someone in these circumstances. All I would say is that the Courts are very keen on parties trying to reach settlement via mediation rather than battling things out in Court. I would say you should be open to it but with guidance from your solicitor, particularly bearing in mind you appear to be no further forward even being able to establish what the Claimant actually wants. Is this something that could settle if you had the full facts and the particulars of claim actually gave an indication??

Maybe it is more of a case of indicating that you are more than willing to explore mediation (makes you look better to the Judge) but you need to understand what is actually being claimed before you can enter into this forum? From what has gone on before I suspect you won't hear anything until the Court actually either orders the particulars are sorted or orders disclosure of documents. I appreciate that doesn't help you at this moment in time. I would just ensure that you are seen to be doing the 'right' thing as far as the Court is concerned, which does I'm afraid, include being 'open' to mediation even if you are not in a position to actively engage in it at this exact moment.