a woman in a black dress is smiling with #schitts creek written in the corner ALT: a woman in a black dress is smiling with #schitts creek written in the corner

Celebrity deaths rarely get to me, but oh my god. The incredible Catherine O'Hara.

Stunning pictures, Chris.

Yellow sunset through trees over water.

Gull on a shore with sunset reflected in the water beyond.

A row of trees reflected in blue water along with purple-grey clouds.

Sunset and dark clouds beyond a row of trees, all reflected in the water below.

Winter sun setting over Port Meadow

oxfordinciter.wordpress.com/2026/01/17/w...

#HistoryEducation

I use Diarium - one off fee, no subscription, and can back up to your choice of cloud storage.

Thanks Nicholas. It's often small things - a flower I spotted on my walk, something I'm grateful for, that sort of thing. I'm convinced it has trained me to scan for and notice good things when they arise. Two years on, my app reminds me of these moments which is lovely.

Late 2023 I read an article by Dr Rick Hanson on neuroplasticity: the brain is 'Teflon for good experiences, Velcro for bad', so we should purposefully dwell on the good. I started a happiness diary, recording something positive every day. Two years on its been a genuinely transformative practice.

Hear me out, ok? Leonard was out at midnight litter picking. He slipped down the bank and the bottle he was holding was launched and hit George on the head. While George was unconscious, Hilda came and sharpened her claws on his face. Then Paul on a driving lesson runs George over. #TheArchers

The Unwanted Inheritance? When a Beneficiary Refuses to Engage Lowe v Daniells [2025] EWHC 3297 (Ch) HHJ Paul Matthews faced the problem of a beneficiary who, perhaps suspecting a scam, responded to the offer of a £184,000 inheritance with abusive emails, asserting there was nothing in the estate, but refusing to disclaim. The Claim The professional administrator brought a CPR 64 claim seeking directions as to what to do with the residue of the estate. The beneficiary was joined as a defendant but did not respond to the claim. The Dilemma Standing v Bowring (1885) The law presumes acceptance of a gift. To divest it, there must be a disclaimer. It was difficult to interpret D's hostile actions — based on a mistaken belief that there was no money — as manifesting a clear intention to disclaim. The Decision 1. Disclaimer Issue: Declined The Judge refused to rule on the disclaimer itself. As the substitute beneficiaries were not parties, it was inappropriate to make a finding that would extinguish their potential interest without them being heard. 2. The Solution: Benjamin Order Rejected paying funds into Court. Instead, granted a Re Benjamin order. PR directed to distribute on the footing that D had disclaimed. Protects PR from devastavit claims. Leaves D free to pursue the substitute beneficiaries directly.

In Lowe v Daniells, a beneficiary responded to notification of an inheritance with abuse but wouldn't sign a disclaimer. HHJ Matthews permitted distribution as if she had disclaimed. An example of the court's willingness to craft pragmatic solutions to help PRs www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWH...

Well that was smashing telly! Loved watching Joe and Alan in particular.

What?!!! #JusticeforJoe

She Who Laughs Last? Pets, Perpetuities, and Other Problems with the Last Will and Testament of Taylor A. Swift - Equity's Darling A legal analysis of Taylor Swift’s fictional will from Anti-Hero, exploring pets, perpetuities, probate pitfalls and the perils of home-drafted wills under English law.

A deep-dive into the fictional will and murder-for-inheritance scenario in Taylor Swift's Anti-Hero through the lens of English law — private purpose trusts, certainties, perpetuities, forfeiture, butterfly lifespans, cat pictures, and capricious pet bequests.

equitysdarling.co.uk/2025/10/23/s...

Very kind. Thank you, Chris.

It's a still from the music video to Anti-Hero. There should be a caption but it doesn't show for some reason.

I'm not sure what you mean by illustrator.

Taylor Swift's cat, Olivia stretching her back paw in the air.

Those are the perks when you're living the Life of a Showgirl.

Thanks, Jacob!

Sorry Daniel! Although, I'm pleased to learn that those guys have it pretty good in real life.

The Aretha story makes me hope for a dispensing power here. I believe one of the arguments was that her smiley face addition meant that it was just a note or a draft and not intended as a final will.

It's been nagging at me every since I watched it!

She Who Laughs Last? Pets, Perpetuities, and Other Problems with the Last Will and Testament of Taylor A. Swift - Equity's Darling A legal analysis of Taylor Swift’s fictional will from Anti-Hero, exploring pets, perpetuities, probate pitfalls and the perils of home-drafted wills under English law.

A deep-dive into the fictional will and murder-for-inheritance scenario in Taylor Swift's Anti-Hero through the lens of English law — private purpose trusts, certainties, perpetuities, forfeiture, butterfly lifespans, cat pictures, and capricious pet bequests.

equitysdarling.co.uk/2025/10/23/s...

This looks to be an important and very interesting event - a conference on 13 April 2026 at Selwyn College Cambridge organised by @julietbrook.bsky.social and Dr Derek Whayman to discuss the Wills Bill 2025 and the Law Commission's proposals for will reform.
research.reading.ac.uk/succession20...

No line of sight: due execution and presence In the Estate of Kathleen Coady - Equity's Darling Coady v Coady: Covid-era “garden signing” fails s.9 Wills Act 1837. The presumption of due execution, and why the Will was invalid.

Happy Friday! Bluesky can't tell from my face that I am over the age of 18 so I cannot access DMs.

New blog post recalling the height of social distancing and back garden will-witnessing, as Covid era wills start to blossom into contentious probate challenges: equitysdarling.co.uk/2025/09/26/n...

No line of sight: due execution and presence In the Estate of Kathleen Coady - Equity's Darling Coady v Coady: Covid-era “garden signing” fails s.9 Wills Act 1837. The presumption of due execution, and why the Will was invalid.

Happy Friday! Bluesky can't tell from my face that I am over the age of 18 so I cannot access DMs.

New blog post recalling the height of social distancing and back garden will-witnessing, as Covid era wills start to blossom into contentious probate challenges: equitysdarling.co.uk/2025/09/26/n...

Financial Remedies Journal: Bad Behaviour and Broken Bonds: A Comparison of Conduct in 1973 and 1975 Act Claims

Hot off the press, Anita Mehta and I take a look at the differing approaches to conduct in financial provision claims under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 on divorce and under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 on death.

financialremediesjournal.com/content/bad-...

Financial Remedies Journal: Bad Behaviour and Broken Bonds: A Comparison of Conduct in 1973 and 1975 Act Claims

Hot off the press, Anita Mehta and I take a look at the differing approaches to conduct in financial provision claims under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 on divorce and under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 on death.

financialremediesjournal.com/content/bad-...

Good to see Lush catering to Chancery lawyers.

Wishing you blue skies, both metaphorical and literal.

Quite an arresting opening line:
'This is an unusual probate claim in that the deceased says she is very much alive.'
www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWH...

Double page Sunday Times magazine spread - “I didn’t want a transgender child. I’m so ashamed of myself now” When Caroline Litman discovered that her 16-year-old wanted to become a girl, she was heartbroken. She explains how she learnt to accept Alice as her daughter — but couldn’t save her life INTERVIEW BY LAURA PULLMAN, PORTRAIT BY ANNA BATCHELOR

The shock set in the moment they found the GP’s letter, left open in the kitchen beside the kettle. It was an autumn morning in 2018 when Caroline Litman’s husband, Peter, rushed upstairs to confess to his wife that he’d glimpsed the letter to their 16-year-old. It raised the possibility that the anxiety their child had been suffering might stem from “gender dysphoria”. The couple were blindsided.

“It wasn’t a boy child that I longed for. It was a happy child. If transitioning could bring that happy child back out, I was all for it” Shortly afterwards, there were moments of light. Alice asked if the family could get a new dog — their old dog had recently died — and within a week they had found Pippin, a one-eyed Romanian rescue dog who became a dependable friend. That summer Alice came downstairs from her bedroom wearing a dress for the first time — a floral item that seemed to make her giddy with happiness. “I was trying so hard to be loving and accepting,” Litman says, “but inside I was, like, ‘What’s she doing? She looks ridiculous.’ Oh God, bless her!” she says, laughing fondly. “I felt really uncomfortable.”

In the UK, Litman argues, trans healthcare is not fit for purpose. In March 2020, after Alice had turned 18, she was discharged from CAMHS psychiatric services as she was now a legal adult. Aged 19 she moved out of home to live with a friend in Brighton. The hope was that she would find a job or complete a course that could lead to a university place, but by her mental health was too fragile. In April 2022, using an e-consult form, Alice told a new GP in Brighton of her fears that she wasn’t taking the right medication. “I often feel hopeless, and helpless and that life is not worth living,” she wrote. An appointment was made for July. She didn’t make it. On May 26, 2022, around 8.30am, a policeman knocked on Litman’s front door. She assumed that something had happened to her 95-year-old mother, who’d spent the night in hospital after a gardening accident. “My brain was protecting me,” she says, quietly remembering that morning. The offcer suggested that the couple sit down in their living room before breaking the news. A body had been found by a passer-by earlier that morning on the Undercliff Walk between Brighton and Rottingdean. The first devastating task was telling Kate, who was studying for a history master’s at Leeds University, and Harvey, who was travelling with his girlfriend in Guatemala, before they heard the news somehow elsewhere. Litman doesn’t like gentle euphemisms for death. “I just find it so offensive because Alice’s death wasn’t peaceful and calm and a slipping away,” she says. “It was cruel and brutal, harsh and horrible.”

“I didn’t want a transgender child. I’m so ashamed of myself now”

Nothing but love for @alicemydaughter.bsky.social for this interview with the Sunday Times magazine for her book, "Her name is Alice"