Charlotte John
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lottiejohn1.bsky.social
Charlotte John
@lottiejohn1.bsky.social
1.5K followers 800 following 570 posts
Barrister at Gatehouse. Private Client, COP, trusts, probate and property.
She/her
🏳️‍🌈 ally
Here for a bit of The Archers chat too.
Posts Replies Media Videos
lottiejohn1.bsky.social
Celebrity deaths rarely get to me, but oh my god. The incredible Catherine O'Hara.
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
media.tenor.com
January 30, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Reposted by Charlotte John
chrisdaleoxford.bsky.social
Winter sun setting over Port Meadow

oxfordinciter.wordpress.com/2026/01/17/w...
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.
January 17, 2026 at 9:48 PM
Reposted by Charlotte John
freereed59.net
#HistoryEducation
alisonfisk.bsky.social Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · Jan 10
Something lovely for the weekend!

Minoan cups made by Bronze Age potters some 3,800 years ago!

Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete 📷 by me

#Archaeology
My photo collage shows five cylindrical Minoan cups each with a single handle and a slightly flaring rim. Each cup is decorated with a different geometric polychrome motif as follows: Top left: on a black background, a central band delineated by an upper and lower white line contains evenly-spaced dark-orange circles, each orange circle is outlined by a white line. Above and below the central band are swirling white vine-like lines. Top right: on a black background, a large white spiral on the front of the cup and beside it a dark-orange oval with stylised white petals at each end which looks like a wrapped sweet! Middle left: a central band of white and dark orange diagonal lines runs around the cup. Above and below the central band are alternating black and white diagonal shapes, the black ones look like shark fins Bottom left: a central reddish-orange band delineated with a white line. Above the central band are swirling, spiralling white lines against a black background, and below the central band are alternating white and black diagonal lines. Bottom right: all set against a black background. A central band delineated with white lines contains white ‘s’-shaped diagonal white stripes. Above the central band a row of red dots outlined with white circles. Below the central band a single white line on the black background. This type of Minoan pottery is known as Kamares Ware, named after the Kamares Cave on Mount Ida on the Greek island of Crete where this kind of pottery was first discovered. Kamares Ware vessels were luxury items produced by palace workshops at Phaistos and Knossos on Crete. These five cups were excavated at Phaistos and are dated 1800-1700 BC.
January 10, 2026 at 12:50 PM
lottiejohn1.bsky.social
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.
January 3, 2026 at 1:16 PM
Reposted by Charlotte John
lindaoctopus.bsky.social
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
January 1, 2026 at 9:29 AM
lottiejohn1.bsky.social
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...
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.
December 29, 2025 at 9:34 AM
lottiejohn1.bsky.social
Well that was smashing telly! Loved watching Joe and Alan in particular.
November 6, 2025 at 10:12 PM
lottiejohn1.bsky.social
What?!!! #JusticeforJoe
November 6, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Reposted by Charlotte John
lottiejohn1.bsky.social
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...
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.
equitysdarling.co.uk
October 25, 2025 at 7:43 AM
lottiejohn1.bsky.social
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...
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.
equitysdarling.co.uk
October 25, 2025 at 7:43 AM
lottiejohn1.bsky.social
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...
The Law of Succession and the Wills Bill - The Law of Succession and the Wills Bill
A one day conference to discuss the Wills Bill 2025 and related matters. At Selwyn College, Cambridge, 13 April 2026
research.reading.ac.uk
October 10, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Reposted by Charlotte John
lottiejohn1.bsky.social
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.
equitysdarling.co.uk
September 26, 2025 at 4:05 PM
lottiejohn1.bsky.social
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.
equitysdarling.co.uk
September 26, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Reposted by Charlotte John
lottiejohn1.bsky.social
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
financialremediesjournal.com
July 2, 2025 at 4:28 PM
lottiejohn1.bsky.social
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
financialremediesjournal.com
July 2, 2025 at 4:28 PM
lottiejohn1.bsky.social
Good to see Lush catering to Chancery lawyers.
June 22, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Reposted by Charlotte John
legalstyle.co.uk
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...
Ashimola & Anor v Samuel & Anor [2025] EWHC 502 (Ch) (10 March 2025)
www.bailii.org
March 10, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Reposted by Charlotte John
hleehurley.com
“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"
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.”
March 9, 2025 at 9:22 AM
lottiejohn1.bsky.social
This sounds fabulous (I'm in).
sarahmccartney.bsky.social Sarah McCartney @sarahmccartney.bsky.social · Feb 26
Fo advance order, Vianne's Confession, the eau de parfum to accompany Vianne, Joanne Harris's new book.
Yes, really!
Savoury unsweetened cacao, rain, hot sun and church incense, with geranium, tomato and rose.
www.4160tuesdays.com/4160tuesdays...
Vianne's Confession - Our Shop
Our fragrances all have a bit of attitude, and capture our impression of times and places. Search our shop to buy our adventurous perfume!
www.4160tuesdays.com
February 26, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Reposted by Charlotte John
simonplittle.ca
Just absurd levels of cruelty
marisakabas.bsky.social Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · Feb 7
New — The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) was told this week by DOJ that they'd lose their funding if the org didn't remove any mentions of LGBTQIA+ issues from their public materials, I've learned. Staff were told they need to deadname trans kids in their reports to comply.
February 7, 2025 at 4:10 AM
lottiejohn1.bsky.social
Very true, especially the shifting perception of merits as case preparation and trial progress.
seanjones.org Sean Jones KC @seanjones.org · Feb 6
Picking up the discussion of lawyer’s estimates of prospects of success. First, a description of some different approaches, then a howl of pain /1
February 6, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Reposted by Charlotte John
sophiecarr.bsky.social
Time for some waves for my daily dose of calm :)

Long exposure (0.3 seconds) waves at sunrise at Fellsfjara beach, Jökulsárlón #Iceland, April 2023.
Two waves breaking, slowed down by a longer shutter speed. The light is at sunrise, with some soft pink on the froth, and a pale grey/blue on the sea behind. The clouds above are a little mauve.
January 26, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Reposted by Charlotte John
meidastouch.com
Wow. Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde fearlessly calls out Trump and Vance to their faces. This is heroic.

(posting in 3 parts due to Bluesky's 1 minute limit)
January 21, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Charlotte John
jamessflee.bsky.social
This decision has an interesting point on limitation periods and foreign judgments.

But of wider interest is that the appellants relied in their appeal bundle on a summary of Flynn v. Breitenbach [2020] EWCA Civ 1336.

That case is entirely made up.

caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/kb/2025/42
January 16, 2025 at 4:11 PM
lottiejohn1.bsky.social
HT to @pollyemorgan.bsky.social FI v DO featuring a dispute about the family dog and best use of anonymised initials since Mr Justice Baker's TOM, DCK and HRY.

www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWF...
FI v DO [2024] EWFC 384 (B) (20 December 2024)
www.bailii.org
January 16, 2025 at 3:08 PM