Inherited Assets: Balancing point

Eleanor Aguirre considers how needs will impact on inherited assets The former matrimonial home, even if brought into the marriage by one party, usually has a central place and should normally be treated as matrimonial property. The recent High Court judgment in Y v Y [2012] provides a useful reminder of the approach the courts …
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Financial Provision: Building fences

Tracey Dargan and Nathaniel Groarke summarise the courts’ approach to pre-acquired and inherited assets In N v F, Mostyn J stated that he would have excluded more of the husband’s pre-marital assets were it not for the fact that such assets were required to meet the wife’s needs. A number of recent reported cases have …
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Financial Provision: Defining disclosure

Patricia Robinson considers best practice when dealing with disclosure The parties’ duty to the court to provide full, frank and clear disclosure is absolute, and also a breach by commission is serious and amounts to plain perjury, whereas a breach by omission can be excused as an oversight. As set out in the Family Procedure …
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International Focus: A rare beast

In the concluding comparison of approaches to spousal maintenance Julian Bremner, Marjet van Yperen-Groenleer and Kate Mooney examine the Australian system and a range of case studies Case law available from the new national scheme in Australia suggests that, like married couples, maintenance does not loom large as an issue for separating cohabitants. In part …
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Lilleyman v Lilleyman & anr [2012] EWHC 821 (Ch)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | July/August 2012 #121

Mrs Barbara Lilleyman applied for reasonable financial provision from the estate of her late husband Mr Roy Lilleyman pursuant to the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (1975 Act). Nigel and Christopher Lilleyman, who were Mr Lilleyman’s sons from a previous marriage, were the executors of Mr Lilleyman’s estate under his will dated 20 May 2008. Nigel and Christopher Littleman were the principal beneficiaries of Mr Lilleyman’s estate and were the defendants to Mrs Lilleyman’s application.

Mr and Mrs Lilleyman had each been married previously and each had two...

Re JDS; Smyth v JDS [2012] COP 10334473

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | April 2012 #118

In 2001 the patient, J, received a settlement of £2,090,000 damages in respect of cerebral palsy suffered as a result of complications at the time of his birth in 1991. Of this, £1,611,222 was attributable to his future care needs. J is an only child. His father was born in 1959 and his mother in 1962. He lives with them in a house bought in October 2000 for £349,950 from an interim payment that is held by his parents and Mr Smyth (S), his receiver (now the deputy) as his trustees. Its current value is estimated at £675,000. J’s life expectancy was originally assessed in 1998 as la...

AR v AR [2011] EWHC 2717 (Fam)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | April 2012 #118

The parties separated after a relationship of approximately 25 years and the wife commenced divorce proceedings (decree nisi being pronounced in October 2010). They had one child who was aged 18 (the husband had three children by his first marriage). The husband was aged 66 and the wife 54.

The total wealth was in the region of £21-£24m (all but approximately £1m was in the husband’s name). The source of the husband’s wealth was a business that his father bought shortly after the second world war, which floated in the 1950s and sold in the late 1980s. From his father, the husband ...

BJ v MJ [2011] EWHC 2708 (Fam)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | April 2012 #118

The husband (H) and the wife (W) were both 65, having married in 1980. There was one child of the marriage (C), aged 25. The former matrimonial home was Green Farm, a substantial property set in 72 acres in Kent. Trust assets fell to be divided following divorce.

In order to mitigate tax on the floatation of his company (ABC), two Jersey trusts were created by H in 1994 (No. 1 Trust and No. 2 Trust) and a company incorporated in the British Virgin Island called Giloch Investments Ltd (Giloch). No. 1 Trust was a discrertionary trust for a class of beneficiaries comprising H, W, C, ...

Financial Provision: Needs must

Clare Williams analyses the courts’ approach in a limited assets case and the correct procedure on appeal ‘In a case where needs were so utterly dominant and resources so tight, it may come as a surprise that any consideration of pre-marital contributions was on the table.’ Family lawyers often complain about the remoteness of the …
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