Trustees: Clear blue water

Gillian Christian highlights a landmark Isle of Man judgment that casts doubt on Pitt v Holt [2013] ‘The principle behind Hastings-Bass refers to the jurisdiction of the court to intervene and set aside a transaction entered into by a trustee (and all fiduciaries) on the grounds of “inadequate deliberation” in the exercise of a discretion.’In …
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Van der Merwe v Goldman & anr [2016] EWHC 790 (Ch)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | June 2016 #160

The claimant and first defendant were husband and wife and joint freehold owners of a property in the UK where they lived. Up until March 2006 the claimant and first defendant were treated as domiciled in South Africa. However, from 6 April 2006 they would be treated as domiciled in the UK for inheritance tax purposes. In November 2005 the claimant took advice on mitigating the consequences of being treated as domiciled in the UK for the purposes of inheritance tax. He was advised that his position would be improved if he placed the property into an interest in possession settlement.

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Tax: Victory for the taxpayer

Mary Ashley looks at Lobler v HMRC [2015], which has an interesting take on rectification ‘Taxpayers will now have to consider whether they should bother to go through the expense of rectification where the only party they are concerned about is HMRC, or if instead they should rely on Lobler.’ As the saying goes, ‘hard …
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Mistake: Facing the consequences

In Freedman v Freedman, Clare Stanley QC analyses HMRC’s arguments against rescission of a voluntary disposition due to mistake ‘Practitioners need to bear in mind for the future that HMRC may challenge cases of unintended tax consequences concentrating on the gravity of the mistake.’ This article examines the recent decision of Mrs Justice Proudman in …
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Freedman v Freedman & ors [2015] EWHC 1457 (Ch)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | September 2015 #152

In 2001 the claimant purchased a house (St Leonard’s Close) with the assistance of a loan from her father. In 2004-5 the claimant’s father agreed to forego the loan. In 2010 the claimant moved out of St Leonard’s Close and into rented accommodation. The claimant wished to buy a different house (Gibbs Green) but she had difficulty selling St Leonard’s Close. Her father therefore agreed to lend her sufficient funds to cover the purchase price of £525,000 and the acquisition costs of £5,000 in respect of Gibbs Green. The claimant’s father made clear, and the claimant agreed, that this was a...

Kennedy & ors v Kennedy & ors [2014] EWHC 4129 (Ch)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | June 2015 #150

The trustees of a settlement dated 16 December 2003 made by the first claimant, Brian Kennedy, (the settlement) sought an order to correct a mistake made in the terms of an appointment dated 1 October 2008 (the October 2008 appointment).

Under the terms of the settlement, of which Mr Kennedy was originally the sole trustee, Mr Kennedy had a life interest in possession. The settlement contained a power of appointment exercisable by the trustees in favour of Mr Kennedy, his children and remoter issue. In default of appointment, the capital was held on trust for Mr Kennedy’s children...

Pagel & anr v Farman [2013] EWHC 2210 (Comm)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | November 2013 #134

In 2001 Mr Pagel (P) and Mr Farman (F), set up a hedge fund. At first they shared responsibility for marketing and investment equally, but F began to concentrate on investing and P dealt with marketing and client relationships and F began to find the split unfair, so that from 2004 the 50/50 split was renegotiated and F received two thirds of the performance fees, but paid the cost of fixed employee bonuses and shared management fees 50/50 with P. Initially, both partners had to sign confirmations for all withdrawals but from autumn 2006 this only applied to amounts over £5,000. For a nu...

Futter & anr v HMRC; Pitt & anr v HMRC [2013] WTLR 977

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | July/August 2013 #131

The first appeal concerned two settlements, made with non-resident trustees, by Mr Futter. Considerable ‘stockpiled’ gains were rolled up while the trusts were non-resident and, in exercise of the powers conferred by the trusts, new resident trustees were appointed and capital was distributed to Mr Futter and his children in the mistaken belief that the ‘stockpiled’ gains, which would be attributed to them, would be absorbed by allowable losses that had been realised, so that no liability to capital gains tax would arise. In advising as to the effect of s87 of the Taxation a...

Day & anr v Day [2013] EWCA Civ 280

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | June 2013 #130

The appellants appealed from a first instance decision by Mr Recorder Chapman QC on 15 May 2012, which refused their application for an order for rectification of a conveyance that was executed on behalf of their mother (Mrs Day) by her solicitor (Mr Froud) who was acting as her attorney. The conveyance was dated 6 June 1985. The conveyance had transferred Mrs Day’s home from her sole name into the names or her and her son (the respondent) as beneficial joint tenants. The purpose of the transaction was to enable borrowing to be secured against the property by the respondent. Mrs Day died...

Mistake: Leviathan can look after itself

Zoë Sive discusses the divergent approach of the Jersey courts in the recent case of Re R [2011] ‘The Jersey decision highlights the extent to which the English and Jersey positions have been affected by the different judicial and jurisdictional attitudes and policies in relation to tax authorities.’ The recent judgment of the Royal Court …
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