Musings from Manchester: Making an AML of it

Geoffrey Shindler feels the regulatory burden and calls upon us all to take some responsibility ‘Are we in fact being governed by regulation rather than being governed by what we were trained to do?’ Once upon a time (like you I am sure) I used to bounce out of bed in the morning, eat a …
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Trusts: It will be alright on the Knight

Richard Dew and James Egan give an analysis of the current status of the doctrine of illegality and trusts ‘There are two categories of conduct that count for the purposes of the doctrine of illegality: first, criminal acts; and second, quasi-criminal acts which engage the public interest in some way (such as cases involving dishonesty …
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5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive: Tightening up

Duncan Bailey explains why and how the EU’s 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive affects private client practitioners ‘The UK is looking to implement the 5AMLD in full irrespective of its status within or outside of the EU as the UK had been actively involved in formulating the Directive.’ If you were anything like me, I yawned …
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Probate: Avoiding deadlock

How can an estate be admitted to probate when there is a caveat in place? Clare Kelly discusses an unusual case which has lessons for the drafting of LPAs ‘In order to progress the administration, it was necessary for the executors to take action to remove the caveat. However, at this point the estate became …
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Interest-in-possession trusts: A balancing act

Emma Cooper explores how to set up dividend policies for companies wholly owned by trustees of a life interest trust ‘Trustees who hold the entire issued share capital of a company, or who otherwise control it, are in a very different position from investors with minority holdings, as they have the power to decide the …
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Offshore: Count your blessings

The Jersey Royal Court’s recent refusal to ‘bless’ actions by the trustee shows that court approval cannot be taken for granted. James Sheedy sets out key points to consider ‘The trustee’s application for a blessing of its decision to liquidate the structure was refused on the basis (among others) that the trustee had not adequately …
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Wills: The times they are a-changin’

Stephen Lawson evaluates the case for formal supported will-making ‘What a will preparer should not do is simply answer a tick box “does the testator have capacity yes/no” – a question that is all too often seen in will preparation files.’ There is currently much debate about the introduction of a formal supported will-making scheme …
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Undue influence: Behind the social façade of dementia

James McKean examines a recent addition to the growing body of case law on undue influence and the elderly testator ‘This judgment serves as a reminder that allegations of undue influence, fraud and sham can be dealt with summarily if they, or if the defence thereto, have no real prospect of success.’ The case of …
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