Wills & Trusts Law Reports | September 2016 #162The deceased (J) died on 2 June 2012, a widow with no children or close relatives. On 8 November 2011 J executed a will (the will) drafted by a solicitor (W). She made a number of pecuniary legacies including legacies of £54,000 each in favour of the claimants.
An employee of the defendant, (S), had been J’s financial advisor since 2000. In 2011, prior to executing the will and acting on S’ advice, J formed two trusts in the claimants’ favour to mitigate inheritance tax payable on her death. One was a discretionary trust naming the claimants sole discretionary b...
Scott Allen and Josh Folkard highlight a case brought by disappointed beneficiaries against a financial adviser ‘The judge’s decision that a frustrated beneficiary claim could potentially be advanced by reference to any of the three potential tests for liability in tort could, if applied more widely, introduce uncertainty into what has generally been seen as …
Continue reading "Negligence: No shortcuts for solicitors"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | October 2013 #133The defendant firm of solicitors had acted for Hazel Charlton (testatrix) of 12 Cecilia Road, Leicester, in relation to a will that she had made on 14 May 1998 (1998 will). The testatrix, who had been previously married twice, had spent the last 20 years with her partner, John Fishbein, latterly living in his house at Barton on Sea. Apart from Mr Fishbein, the residuary beneficiaries of the 1998 will were respectively the testatrix’s cousin, Mrs Atkinson, and friend, Dr Bhangoo. The claimant, who was a step-granddaughter of the testatrix by her second husband, was not a beneficiary...
Vinton v Fladgate Fielder gives some indication of the current approach of the courts towards negligent IHT planning, explains Michael O’Sullivan ‘The judge in Vinton v Fladgate Fielder [2010] considered that the claim for breach of contract brought by the claimants in their capacity as executors did have a real prospect of success, citing the …
Continue reading "IHT Planning: The mist has yet to clear"
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