Beth Middleton is a senior associate within the Private Wealth Disputes department, having joined JMW in September 2025 from another national law firm based in the north west. She specialises in all contentious trusts, wills and estate matters, acting on behalf of both claimants and defendants, including lay and professional clients and charities.S he has a wealth of experience in will validity claims, claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, and disputes concerning executors and trustees. She regularly advises on contentious Court of Protection matters, including disputed statutory will and deputyship applications.
What was your career path to your current role?
I knew from a very young age that I wanted to become a lawyer, which was firmly cemented after completing a few weeks’ work experience at a law firm in Leeds. After leaving school, I progressed straight through from college to university and then on to complete my LPC full time. Desperate to get my foot in the door, I was offered my first role in a law firm within the Client Services team by the age of 21, and within 2 months I was promoted to paralegal. From there, I developed my career as a non-qualified Probate Executive dealing with a varied case load of non-contentious private wealth matters until I was offered a training contract a year later.
Having found that I was more suited to contentious work, I qualified into the commercial litigation team where I dealt with a split case load of company disputes and probate disputes. I quickly realised that I enjoyed the personal aspect of working with private clients and so I focused my practice solely towards trust and probate litigation. From there, I moved to a national firm to work as part of their Contentious Trusts and Probate team for a number of years before making the move to JMW last year where I hope to see out the rest of my career.
Did you have any other career ambitions?
As clichéd as it sounds, my only ambition is to be the best I can at what I do. I am very fortunate to be at a firm where I’m surrounded by some incredibly talented solicitors who have a genuine interest in progressing others around them. I’m supported and challenged on a daily basis which puts me in exactly the right place to progress towards my goals, both personally and professionally.
What keeps you motivated in your work?
Without a doubt, it’s the people and the team around me. I’ve said it already above, but I’m lucky to work alongside some incredibly talented and knowledgeable lawyers who are all eager to share knowledge and champion one another’s success. Due to the nature of the work that we do, it can also be challenging when dealing with grieving families who often have a complex dynamic and troubled history. In those circumstances, being surrounded by people who are uplifting, positive and fun is paramount to making even the trickiest of days feel rewarding.
I can honestly say that there’s not a day that I don’t look forward to being in the office – particularly now that we’ve moved into our brand new, swanky Manchester offices!
What has been the best development in wills and probate in the last 20 years?
In the context of probate litigation, I would say that the increase of court-ordered mediations or family dispute resolution and early neutral evaluation hearings have been the best development. It has been extremely useful in encouraging parties to bridge the gap towards settlement to avoid a fully contested trial – which comes at a significant cost to all parties.
It particularly helps in the context of litigants in person who have perhaps misunderstood or misjudged the merits of a claim and also protects against unreasonable litigants where cost sanctions apply for failure to engage.
And the worst?
ChatGPT and AI. Whilst it can be helpful in some scenarios (for both lawyers and clients), it can also be extremely damaging when it is tasked with providing legal advice. There has been a stark increase in the number of litigants in person who are heavily reliant upon AI to generate legal arguments which are often significantly flawed – or just plain wrong. This can cause significant difficulties for clients who are often left with the cost of defending entirely vexatious and unmeritorious claims.
Despite what some may think, there’s a very good reason why it takes many years of studying and practice to become a good lawyer!
If you could bring in one new piece of legislation for the sector, what would it be and why?
A mandatory requirement for all wills to be witnessed by at least one suitably recognised professional and for it to be registered on a centralised database. This would assist families in being able to locate wills where it is unclear whether it is an intestate estate or whether a later will has been executed (or earlier will if a dispute arises). The introduction of a professional witness would also provide an element of additional safeguarding where there are concerns that a will may have been procured by undue influence, fraud or there is a lack of capacity for example.
What piece of legislation would you take off the statute books and why?
Quite a hot topic following the Law Commission’s May 2025 report, but it would be the removal of s18 of the Wills Act 1837, which provides for a will to be revoked by a testator’s marriage. Whilst there are very valid arguments against its removal, the majority of the concerns could easily be resolved by proper advice being provided at the point of marriage of the financial consequences that follow. It is incredibly sad to see families having to deal with the fall out of an intestate estate where a testator’s intentions had otherwise been obvious, particularly in the context of blended families.
What’s the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you regarding your career?
Play to your strengths and use them to your advantage. Not everybody is technically brilliant, nor does everyone find it easy to network or public speak. There is a place for everyone, and no attribute is more valuable than the other. Whilst it’s good to step out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself, there is also an advantage to developing what you know you are good at and finding ways to excel in that area.
What advice would you like to give to someone just starting out?
Don’t underestimate the importance to prioritising relationships within your team. This particularly applies to your support network. Your secretarial staff, paralegals and IT function are integral to any successful team and showing your appreciation goes a long way.
Tell us something people may be surprised to know about you…
I am a ‘jack of all trades’ when it comes to everything outside my day job. I’m a qualified nail technician, beautician and dog groomer despite having absolutely no intention of ever taking on any clients… ever. You could also probably add decorator, landscaper, joiner and electrician to the list too … in fact, there’s probably not much I haven’t had a go at!
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