Richard Smaller and Francis Ng examine accounting on a footing of wilful default, with reference to Re Cadogan Claims for an account on a footing of wilful default are rare. HHJ Klein’s judgment in Re Cadogan, however, shows that there remain cases where the jurisdiction is relevant. This article concerns the long-running case of Re …
Continue reading "Administration of estates: A long-running saga"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Spring 2020 #178In 2012, the claimant trustee (K) invested £129m into a joint venture (Spartan), which was alleged have been procured by the deceit of Mr Watson. The action between K and Spartan was settled, with certain agreements between Spartan and K set aside. As a result, K was entitled to treat Spartan as constructive trustee of £129m, which also gave rise to a right to interest under the equitable jurisdiction of the Court, or s35A Senior Courts Act 1981. K continued its claim against Mr Watson, who was found liable to pay equitable compensation to K of all sums which were due f...
Jennifer Fox updates the position on anti-Bartlett clauses ‘The 2018 decision of the Hong Kong Court of Appeal in Zhang Hong Li had raised questions on whether it is actually possible for an anti-Bartlett clause to exclude the trustee’s duty to enquire and supervise in respect of an underlying company.’ Those in the private wealth …
Continue reading "Trust deeds: Normal service resumed…"
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Oliver Auld examines the limitations of ‘anti-Bartlett’ clauses following Zhang Hong Li v DBS Bank ‘The purpose of an “anti-Bartlett” clause is to nullify (to the extent possible) the trustee’s duty to enquire into or interfere in the conduct of any business investment under its ownership or control.’ The decision of the Hong Kong Court …
Continue reading "Professional trustees: Managing risk"
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Emma Cooper explores how to set up dividend policies for companies wholly owned by trustees of a life interest trust ‘Trustees who hold the entire issued share capital of a company, or who otherwise control it, are in a very different position from investors with minority holdings, as they have the power to decide the …
Continue reading "Interest-in-possession trusts: A balancing act"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Summer 2018 #172The claimant was the sole corporate trustee of a trust created by a deed of settlement dated 5 November 1963 and made by a settlor for the benefit of his four children and their respective spouses and descendants. The defendants were two of the settlor’s surviving children, the widows of two deceased children and descendants to the
fourth generation. As a result of deeds of appointment made on 28 March 1979 and
31 December 1982, each of the settlor’s four children became entitled to a life interest in their respective one-quarter shares of the trust fund, with reversionary life interes...
Rosamond McDowall looks at Labrouche v Frey [2016], which serves as a reminder of the different types of breaches of trust and their remedies ‘The court found that under Swiss law, the agreement between Hugo and Olga could exclude the rights of the heirs of her estate, and that the ability to enforce it survived …
Continue reading "Trustees: Lost founder’s rights"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | April 2016 #158In March 2000 a settlor transferred about US$10m to a company registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). In December 2000 the settlor then settled the entire issued share capital of the company upon a BVI discretionary trust. The beneficiaries of the trust were the settlor’s wife and children and the trustee was the defendant company. The trust deed gave the defendant all the powers and immunities set out in what is now the Second Schedule to the Trustee Act (BVI). On the same day in December the defendant and the company entered into an investment management agreemen...
The position of trustee is not for the faint-hearted. Geoffrey Shindler explains ‘It is a sad reflection of 21st-century life that it has become so complicated. Complexity only leads to confusion, which in turn leads to errors which finally leads to penalties. Not a happy prospect.’The following quotation of Lord Hardwicke LC in Knight v …
Continue reading "Musings From Manchester: A poisoned chalice?"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | December 2015 #155Thomas Edward Weetman (the deceased) died on 3 November 2008. His last will was executed on 19 September 2008 (the will). The principal assets in his estate (the estate) were shares in his company Weetman (Haulage & Storage) Ltd (the company) which he had successfully built up during his lifetime, and shares in a property known as Pasturefields Enterprise Park (the property) which the deceased owned but which was occupied, in whole or in part, by the company. The estate was of considerable value but illiquid. The will provided that fifty percent of the deceased’s shares in the ...
