Alice Vale
Senior Associate
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Career & Experience
Alice Vale is a Managing Associate in the firm’s Inheritance and Trust Disputes team.
She advises clients on a wide range of contentious trust and estate matters, including proprietary estoppel claims, disputes involving executors and trustees, applications for the construction or rectification of wills and trust documents, and other complex inheritance-related disputes.
Alice has particular expertise in challenges to the validity of wills, including claims involving testamentary capacity, lack of knowledge and approval, undue influence, fraudulent calumny, fraud and forgery. She also regularly advises on, and has a particular interest in, claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 and deathbed gift (donatio mortis causa) disputes. She has advised on cases that have progressed to both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
Known for her practical and approachable manner, Alice works closely with clients to help them navigate often sensitive and emotionally challenging disputes.
Outside of work, Alice enjoys travelling and spending time with her family.
Work highlights
- Securing a favourable settlement of a claim brought by a cohabitee under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 in relation to an estate worth more than £2 million.
- Achieving settlement at mediation of claims brought by a civil partner challenging the validity of their partner’s final will and, alternatively, seeking financial provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
- Successfully settling proprietary estoppel claims concerning a farming estate through mediation.
- Resolving a dispute between siblings concerning the application of the “double portions” doctrine, involving gifts made by a parent during their lifetime and their effect on the subsequent distribution of the estate.
Career & Experience
Alice Vale is a Managing Associate in the firm’s Inheritance and Trust Disputes team.
She advises clients on a wide range of contentious trust and estate matters, including proprietary estoppel claims, disputes involving executors and trustees, applications for the construction or rectification of wills and trust documents, and other complex inheritance-related disputes.
Alice has particular expertise in challenges to the validity of wills, including claims involving testamentary capacity, lack of knowledge and approval, undue influence, fraudulent calumny, fraud and forgery. She also regularly advises on, and has a particular interest in, claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 and deathbed gift (donatio mortis causa) disputes. She has advised on cases that have progressed to both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
Known for her practical and approachable manner, Alice works closely with clients to help them navigate often sensitive and emotionally challenging disputes.
Outside of work, Alice enjoys travelling and spending time with her family.
Work highlights
- Securing a favourable settlement of a claim brought by a cohabitee under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 in relation to an estate worth more than £2 million.
- Achieving settlement at mediation of claims brought by a civil partner challenging the validity of their partner’s final will and, alternatively, seeking financial provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
- Successfully settling proprietary estoppel claims concerning a farming estate through mediation.
- Resolving a dispute between siblings concerning the application of the “double portions” doctrine, involving gifts made by a parent during their lifetime and their effect on the subsequent distribution of the estate.
