Jacqueline Leslie
Jacqueline specialises in Wills, inheritance tax planning and the administration of estates, both straight forward and complex. She has many years of experience in the creation, administration and winding up of all types of trust, including personal injury trusts. Jacqueline also prepares financial and welfare powers of attorney for clients and acts for clients in the creation and administration of guardianships.
She is also member of STEP (the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners), the worldwide professional association for practitioners dealing with family inheritance and succession planning.
Jacqueline is accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as specialist in Trust Law.
Practice Areas
Panel
- Scottish Panel
Qualified Year
- 1994
Membership
- STEP (the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners)
Qualification
- LL.B (Hons) Dip.LP TEP
5 Contributions by Jacqueline Leslie
PRACTICE NOTES
Confirmation in Scottish testate estates: Sheriff Court process, jurisdiction, inventory (including England, Wales and Northern Ireland assets), valuation, IHT and HMRC forms (C1/C5/IHT400), small estates, certificates/extracts
FORTHCOMING CHANGE :
On 30 January 2024, the Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024 obtained Royal Assent, representing the first review of Scottish trusts law in more than a century since the principal Trusts (Scotland) Act 1921 was enacted. The trusts provisions will require secondary legislation from Scottish Ministers before they commence, whereas the succession provisions took effect on 30 April 2024.
Key changes intended to modernise the law are outlined in News Analysis: Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Bill passed. Practice Notes addressing Scottish trusts and succession will be updated as required to reflect this new legislation.
This Practice Note explains the procedure for obtaining confirmation in Scotland for testate estates, in scenarios both where no inheritance tax (IHT) is payable and where IHT is due. For guidance on confirmation in intestate estates, see Practice Note: Application for confirmation in Scotland—intestate cases.
What is confirmation?
‘Confirmation’ is a document issued by a Sheriff Court that confirms the appointment of executors, whether the appointment was made by the deceased or by the court...
Private Client
PRACTICE NOTES
Intestate confirmation in Scotland: executor dative appointment, Sheriff Court petitions, bonds of caution, small estates procedure and order of succession
FORTHCOMING CHANGE :
The Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024 secured Royal Assent on 30 January 2024, heralding the first overhaul of Scottish trust law in more than a century since the cornerstone Trusts (Scotland) Act 1921. Provisions on trusts will only commence once Scottish Ministers introduce the necessary secondary legislation, while the succession measures took effect on 30 April 2024. Key updates designed to modernise the framework are outlined in News Analysis: Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Bill passed. Practice Notes across Scottish trusts and succession topics will be revised to reflect this new statute.
This Practice Note addresses the steps for obtaining confirmation where there is no will (intestate estates). For wills-based estates, or elements of the confirmation process common to both testate and intestate cases, see Practice Note: Application for confirmation in Scotland—testate cases.
Appointment of executor
Order of succession
The intestacy rules appear in the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964 (S(S)A 1964). These rules establish the order of entitlement to share in an intestate estate...
Private Client
PRACTICE NOTES
Scotland: Validity of Wills—execution, witnessing, foreign elements, alternatives, revocation, revival, capacity and challenges, with updates under the Succession (Scotland) Act 2016 and Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024
FORTHCOMING CHANGE
The Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024 obtained Royal Assent on 30 January 2024, representing the first reassessment of Scottish trusts law in more than a century since the Trusts (Scotland) Act 1921. The trusts provisions will come into force only following secondary legislation made by the Scottish Ministers, whereas the succession elements commenced on 30 April 2024. The principal updates modernising the law are outlined in News Analysis: Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Bill passed. Practice Notes dealing with Scottish trusts and succession will be further revised to reflect this new statute. This Practice Note outlines the Scots law requirements for a Will to be formally valid and the conditions that must be satisfied to give effect to a Will. For general guidance on Wills under Scots law, see Practice Note: Wills in Scotland—overview.
Wills Act 1963
A Will is formally valid if it is duly executed under the law of the testator’s domicile, habitual residence or nationality at the time of execution of the Will or at the date of death. It will also be formally valid...
Private Client
PRACTICE NOTES
Succession (Scotland) Act 2016: section-by-section practitioner guide to wills, special destinations, rectification, survivorship, forfeiture and executry (updated for 2024 amendments)
This Practice Note explores the changes to succession law introduced by the Succession (Scotland) Act 2016 (S(S)A 2016). It provides information on every section of S(S)A 2016 and comments on its effect on the position of the law prior to its enactment. It also notes how those provisions interact with the prior legal position.
Effect of divorce, dissolution or annulment on Will—S(S)A 2016, s 1
Where a marriage or civil partnership ends by divorce, dissolution or annulment, any gift or power of appointment conferred by a testator on a former spouse or civil partner, together with any designation of that person as executor or trustee, is revoked. For this to take effect, the deceased must die after the decree of divorce, dissolution or annulment has been obtained and after 1 November 2016. This will not apply where the Will expressly stipulates that the above benefits or offices are to have effect regardless of the formal termination of the relationship. The revocation operates by treating the ex‑spouse or former civil partner as having predeceased the testator for the purposes of the Will. Notably, this legal fiction does not apply where a former spouse/civil partner has been appointed as a guardian under the Will. Such provisions...
Private Client
PRACTICE NOTES
Wills under Scots law: capacity, execution (including video witnessing), legacies, executors, trusts (perpetuities, liferents, accumulations), and 2024 succession reforms
FORTHCOMING CHANGE :
On 30 January 2024, the Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024 obtained Royal Assent, signalling the first comprehensive review of Scottish trust law in more than a century since the principal Trusts (Scotland) Act 1921. The trust-related provisions will not operate until secondary legislation is made by the Scottish Ministers, while the succession elements took effect on 30 April 2024. The chief reforms aimed at modernising the law are outlined in News Analysis: Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Bill passed. Practice Notes covering Scottish trusts and succession will be further updated to align with this new legislation.
CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) :
Certain formal requirements for creating a valid Will in Scotland have been eased since the coronavirus pandemic. See News Analysis: Signing Wills in Scotland in times of social distancing.
Making a Will
On death, it must be determined whether a valid Will exists. If there is none, the estate is administered under Scotland’s intestacy rules as set out in sections 2, 8 and 9 of the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964.
Who can make a Will?
In Scotland, anyone aged 12 or...
Private Client
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