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Geoffrey Shindler delves into the psychology of will-making and its link with the seasons ‘It seems more natural to be talking about wills and death in the winter time than it does in the summer.’Summer time brings mixed emotions for trusts and will practitioners. Looking out over the gloriously sunny and warm Manchester town centre, …
Continue reading "Musings From Manchester: The modern memento mori"
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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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Carolyn O’Sullivan highlights what the private practitioner needs to know about ATEDs ‘ATED receipts for 2013/14 totalled £100m, a reported five times more than the government had originally anticipated in its impact assessment when it introduced the charge, suggesting that many decided not to de-envelope existing structures.’ Historically, non-UK domiciled individuals (non doms) have purchased …
Continue reading "Tax: A tax that needs to be kept under review"
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Gareth Keillor and Rosanna Pinker consider the lack of clarification from the Supreme Court on the illegality defence ‘The mere existence of illegal activity will not be enough to defeat a claim; there must be a sufficiently close connection between that unlawful activity and the claimant’s pleaded case.’ The application of the illegality defence, otherwise …
Continue reading "Illegality And Trusts: Public policy or rule of law?"
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Don McCue examines the lessons from Curran v Collins [2015] ‘Two issues currently need to be resolved as a matter of some urgency… First, in no-agreement cases, whether the Rosset threshold requirement should be relaxed. Second, the question of inference or imputation needs clarification.’ Claims on constructive trust principles to a share of the beneficial …
Continue reading "Constructive Trust Claims: Excuses, detriment and imputation"
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Bromley v Breslin [2015] exposes the possible cost consequences of an application under CPR 57.7(5) to challenge the validity of a will. Charles Holbech explains ‘Counsel for Anne requested a determination by the judge, as a preliminary point, as to whether the costs’ protection afforded by CPR 57.7(5) applied to cross-examination of witnesses other than …
Continue reading "Probate Claims: A hard case to make"
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Georgia Bedworth analyses a case which considers whether the English court can vary a foreign trust under the Variation of Trusts Act 1958 ‘The Variation of Trusts Act 1958 and Hague Trusts Convention apply wherever a trusts matter comes before the English court, even if the other country has not ratified the Convention.’Private client lawyers …
Continue reading "Trusts: An extraordinary jurisdiction"
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Wilby v Rigby [2015] has useful practitioner points on applications for the removal of executors. Nicholas Pointon reports ‘The key to understanding the court’s decision on costs lies in analysis of the offers being made by Mrs Wilby in her attempts to reach settlement. Mrs Wilby proposed that both executors stand down and be replaced …
Continue reading "Executors: A costly sibling clash"
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Lydia Pilati considers the lessons to be learned from Brennan v Prior [2015] on contesting the validity of a will ‘Brennan highlights that although the burden of proof is upon the party seeking to propound the will, it is not simply enough to propound a will on due execution and capacity when the suspicion of …
Continue reading "Wills: A textbook claim"
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Jo Summers reviews A Modern Approach to Lifetime Tax Planning for Private Clients A Modern Approach to Lifetime Tax Planning for Private Clients (with Precedents) 2nd ed, published January 2016 by Jordan Publishing Authors/editors: Christopher Whitehouse and Lesley King £85.00 ISBN: 978 1 78473 104 5 There’s a certain brand of beer that prides itself …
Continue reading "Book Review: Quality and quantity"
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