This category can only be viewed by members.
Clare Dixon QC and Nicholas Broomfield consider the Supreme Court’s decision in Matthew v Sedman and whether it represents a departure from the established rule of limitation ‘Midnight deadline’ cases such as Gelmini and Matthew are distinct from cases where the cause of action accrues part way through a day and different principles apply. For …
Continue reading "Conduct of proceedings: What a difference a day makes"
This post is only available to members.
Will cases involving the allegation of fraud are on the rise. Laura Abbott explores the legal principles behind the latest decision With the ability of experts to detect even the slightest of differences in paper and ink, and the evidence available from technology such as CCTV and social media, as these cases have shown, it …
Continue reading "Will validity: Losing face"
This post is only available to members.
Tara McInnes reports on a recent decision in the county court that indicates an understanding approach towards an eligible claimant with little provision and financial need The judge was keen to point out that we still have a system of testamentary freedom. To enable the courts to interfere with such freedom, it needs to be …
Continue reading "The 1975 Act: After Ilott"
This post is only available to members.
Robert Lindley and Wesley O’Brien discuss cases where offshore courts act as auxiliaries to those onshore Generally, for a foreign judgment to be capable of enforcement in an offshore common law jurisdiction such as Cayman or Jersey, it must be final and conclusive, for the payment of a sum of money and made by a …
Continue reading "Offshore: What is appropriate?"
This post is only available to members.
Geoffrey Shindler examines the scope of the Law Commission’s latest project I am sure none of us will object to a wholesale review of trust law so long as it is done on the basis that there are problems which need to be resolved. What we do not need is reform, ie change, for its …
Continue reading "Musings from Manchester: Updating trusts"
This post is only available to members.
Alexander Learmonth QC and James McKean report on a case on construction and rectification If the will does not accord with the deceased’s intentions, the wrong is irreversible. Correcting that wrong must be more important than classifying how it came about. There is a will, a company, and two beneficiaries. The will gives 26% of …
Continue reading "Wills: Trial and error"
This post is only available to members.
Lucinda Brown and Judith Swinhoe-Standen consider delusions and testamentary capacity following Clitheroe v Bond Given the varying circumstances of testators, there is unsurprisingly a considerable grey area in defining what kinds of beliefs are delusional for the purposes of testamentary capacity. The judgment of Clitheroe v Bond, handed down on 4 May 2021, was eagerly …
Continue reading "Testamentary capacity: Goodfellow for our times"
This post is only available to members.
Stephen Alexander explores when it is possible to exclude a beneficiary under a discretionary trust Typically, if a beneficiary is excluded from a class by way of exercise of a power of exclusion, he or she can take no further interest under the settlement. A power to exclude a beneficiary is a fiduciary power which, …
Continue reading "Fiduciary powers: Stocktaking"
This post is only available to members.
Unsettled wills are not exempt from human rights considerations. Tim Crook and Alfred Gherson discuss Judges will utilise s3 HRA to interpret wills drafted before 2000 (when the HRA came into force) and which were drafted utilising legislation passed before 2000 in their consideration of how to interpret a will or trust. The Human Rights …
Continue reading "The Human Rights Act and wills: An unlikely but relevant pairing"
This post is only available to members.
James Sheedy looks at enforcing judgments against discretionary beneficiaries in Jersey The decision in Kea Investments is simply that a judgment creditor cannot take a shortcut to asset recovery by way of an arrêt. The Royal Court of Jersey has held in Kea Investments Ltd v Watson [2021] that it is not possible for a judgment …
Continue reading "Offshore: No joy for judgment creditors"
This post is only available to members.
