Ilott v Mitson [2015] EWCA Civ 797

October 2015 # 153

The appeal concerned the quantification of an award for maintenance pursuant to the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (the 1975 Act). Section 1 of the 1975 Act confers the right on, among others, a child of the deceased to apply for an order if the will of the deceased or the intestacy rules did not make reasonable provision for that person. The provision was limited to awards of maintenance.

The appellant, who was an adult, was the only child of the deceased and was raised by the deceased, her father having died about t...

Bieber & ors v Teathers Ltd [2012] EWCA Civ 1466

January/February 2013 #126

The defendant (Teathers) promoted a series of unregulated collective investment schemes intended to take advantage of tax reliefs available on investments in TV productions. UK tax payers were entitled to write down 100% of any expenditure on a film or TV production certified as a British Qualifying Film. The schemes had not proved successful. Many of the productions were commercial failures and a number of them had not been certified as British Qualifying Films and were illegible for the tax relief that was the rationale behind the schemes. The claimants argued that money invested in th...

Singapore Airlines Ltd & anr v Buck Consultants Ltd [2011] EWCA Civ 1542

January/February 2013 #126

Singapore Airlines Ltd (SA) brought proceedings against Buck Consultants Ltd (BC) alleging negligence in the drafting by BC of a revised version of the rules of SA’s pension scheme (scheme). A preliminary issue was tried concerning the meaning of ‘earnings’ for the purposes of the scheme. That preliminary issue had to be resolved for the purposes of SA’s negligence claim against BC. However, BC had also been appointed by the court to represent the interests of the members of the scheme on the preliminary issue.

Four issues were appealed by SA. Only Issue 4 ...

Suggitt v Suggitt & anr [2012] EWCA Civ 1140

November 2012 #124

Frank Edward Suggitt (Frank) died on 25 October 2009 leaving his entire estate (400 acres of farmland and several house) to his daughter Caroline. John, Frank’s son, was left nothing. Frank’s will, executed in 1997, expressed the wish (without creating a trust) that if at any time, in the opinion of Caroline, John showed himself capable of working and managing the farmland, that Caroline would transfer it to John.

The Suggitts had farmed in North Yorkshire for many generations. John was the youngest and only son. He had attended agricultural college at Frank’s expense, but left be...

Howard v Howard-Lawson [2011] EWHC 63 (Ch)

May 2012 #119

Philip John Canning Howard (testator), who died on 22 April 1934, was entitled to landed estates but his only child was a daughter who married and had issue with Sir Henry Joseph Lawson Bt. The testator was concerned to ensure the continuance of the association of his family name and arms with his landed estates, and by his will, he settled them on trusts that were designed to prevent his descendants from disentailing them for as long a period as possible, but made the enjoyment of possession by each successive remainderman conditional on adopting the name and arms of Howard. Each tenant...

Drake v Harvey & ors [2011] EWCA Civ 838

November 2011 #114

Mr and Mrs H, their son A and their daughter F were partners in a partnership engaged in farming. The partnership was governed by a partnership deed dated 14 February 1989. One of the assets of the farming partnership was farmland worth approximately £5.5m. Mr and Mrs H ceased to be partners as a result of their loss of mental capacity. They have since died. A ceased to be a partner on his death and therefore F was the only surviving partner.

The partnership capital was originally divided into A and B capital and additional capital. By clause 6 of the partnership deed, A capital h...

CRC Credit Fund & ors v GLG Investments & ors WTLR(w) 2010-07

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Ownership of client funds, trust law, insolvency law, client money, segregation of client money