Michael has a thriving and varied chancery practice, is a member of the Chancery Bar Association, and is regularly instructed in private client and wills, TOLATA and insolvency matters. See below a non‑exhaustive list of issues on which he is regularly instructed:

• Breach of trust and fiduciary duties
• Restitution and unjust enrichment
• Undue influence and unconscionable bargains
• Personal insolvency (bankruptcy, IVAs, Breathing Space moratoriums, substituted service, annulments)
• Company insolvency (winding up, CVAs)
• Trusts (common intention constructive trusts, resulting trusts, bare trusts)
• Estoppel (proprietary and promissory, including life interests)
• Co‑ownership and TOLATA applications (including orders for sale and declarations of beneficial interest)
• Wills, probate and intestacy disputes
• Contentious probate and estate administration (including executor liability and removal)
• Claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, including applications for reasonable financial provision and advice on prospects and limitation

Recent cases

• Michael advised an adult child considering a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, analysing the merits of a reasonable financial provision claim in light of his needs, the size of the estate, and competing beneficiaries’ positions.
• Michael advised and drafted a preliminary notice and letter of claim for a purchaser who was prevented by HM Land Registry from registering as freehold proprietor due to a suspected fraudulent sale. All identification documents provided by the purported seller were found invalid, and the purchaser is suing his former conveyancing solicitors for breach of trust in paying monies to someone other than the genuine seller.
• He advised a beneficiary on his mother’s intestate estate where she and her ex‑husband had held the property as joint tenants in equity but had not severed the joint tenancy. The ex‑husband claimed survivorship rights; Michael advised there were good prospects of a section 14 TOLATA 1996 claim based on constructive trust and/or proprietary estoppel.
• Michael acted for a creditor on a bankruptcy petition and was later instructed by the same creditor to oppose the debtor’s application to annul the bankruptcy order, successfully securing dismissal of the application.
• He appeared for a creditor seeking an order for sale following a final charging order. The debtor opposed on the basis of occupation with her children, and the matter was adjourned so that the parties could file full evidence on that issue.
• Michael advised professional trustees of a family trust, and a major beneficiary, on a planning promotion deal with a land promoter and developer. He analysed whether heads of terms were binding, assessed potential exposure (including unjust enrichment and estoppel) and evaluated how each option aligned with the trustees’ fiduciary duties when considering a better offer.
• He advised a firm of solicitors named as executor in a will after estate funds had been distributed before inheritance tax was settled with HMRC. His advice covered the executor’s personal liability and restitutionary claims against beneficiaries, and he drafted letters of claim which led to most overpayments being repaid.
• Michael advised an adult son who believed he had been effectively disinherited in relation to his late parents’ intestate estates involving the family home, a nursery business and farmland. He traced beneficial ownership under a deed of variation and notional will, identified evidential gaps and advised on realistic entitlement, the merits of challenging his sibling’s position and a potential section 14 TOLATA claim.
• Finally, he acted in a contentious probate dispute between siblings where a settlement for the distribution of chattels had been reached but performance was obstructed by further demands. He obtained an order for specific performance with a costs order and helped manage expectations so that the parties ultimately complied with their obligations.