Greg Williams featured in Family Affairs magazine
Coram Chambers is delighted to announce that Greg Williams has been featured in the latest edition of Family Affairs, the Family Law Bar Association magazine. Greg’s article provides a sharp and engaging review of recent case law, offering practical guidance for those involved in TOLATA, proprietary estoppel, and secret trust claims.
Greg’s commentary opens with a reminder: early legal advice and thorough case preparation are essential in TOLATA claims, where proceedings can quickly go awry if not properly set on course from the outset. Drawing on the recent case of Bains v Irshad and Curdworth Limited [2025] EWHC 491 (Ch), Greg highlights the dangers of pursuing meritless claims and the consequences of misleading the court. In this striking case, the claimant, using a false identity, attempted to claim partnership assets. The court saw through the deception, invoking the ‘clean hands’ doctrine and referring the matter of perjury to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Greg also explores Grijns v Grijns and others [2025] EWHC 1413 (Ch), where a claimant tried to align his testimony with legal precedent, only to have his case unravel under scrutiny. The court found the evidence tailored to fit the law, rather than the facts genuinely supporting the claim. Greg’s analysis underscores the importance of honest, fact-driven litigation, and cautions against constructing claims around legal theory rather than concrete evidence.
The article concludes with a discussion of Lorenz v Caruana and others [2025] EWCA Civ 606, where the Court of Appeal revisited the principles of secret trusts. Here, the judgment turned on whether there was a real prospect of the claimant establishing a secret trust at trial, and the court restored the Master’s decision to allow the claim to proceed. Greg’s succinct summary draws out the key legal tests and the practical lessons for practitioners.
