March 2019 #204 – Law Journals

1975 Act claims: Accommodating need

Mark Blackett-Ord reports on an unusually successful award for adult children under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 ‘If the first instance judge concluded that the amount that he was provisionally awarding to each claimant was not excessive for that claimant’s maintenance, and that it was all the estate could afford, then …

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Wills: A question of construction

Justin Holmes suggests a modern take on decided cases is needed to reflect the intentions of the 21st century testator ‘The 21st century problem which arose for the trustees was that, on the face of the will, the gifts to Enid and Victoria in clause 5 might both have failed, and in that event there …

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Constructive trusts: Keeping up with the Jones

Naveed Ali outlines the development of the constructive trust principle to aid cohabitees ‘The court should establish the intentions of the parties with evidence; where intention cannot be inferred, the court may impute an intention which the parties may never have founded.’ The regulation of proprietary rights after a breakdown of marriage is extensive: the …

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Book review: Shining a light into murky corners

Elaine Roche reviews Gill Steel’s book on the residence nil-rate band Residence Nil Rate Band: Practical Thoughts on its Use and Application Gill Steel ISBN13: 9780244693756 July 2018, published by LawSkills Ltd £48.00 In April 2017, the residence nil-rate band (RNRB) came into effect, some ten years after the Conservative Party first announced that they …

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Will drafting: Tech support

Josh Lewison asks whether AI could be used effectively to write wills ‘In my view, the introduction of AI to the will-drafting landscape is unlikely to give rise to any greatly complex new problems in liability or redress.’ According to a recent survey, a large proportion of members of the public would not want to …

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Musings from Manchester: System error

O T

Geoffrey Shindler argues that HMRC should be as honest about errors as the rest of society is encouraged to be ‘I hope that when we make mistakes, as we do, we rectify them at our own expense, or the expense of our insurers, without having to incur our clients in any form of proceedings all …

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Common Reporting Standard: A blueprint for success

Sean Wakeman gives an update on the Common Reporting Standard ‘The danger for HMRC is that the whole system employed for pursuing overseas non-compliance becomes completely clogged pursuing mundane, meaningless and ultimately valueless accounts that are held for reasonable purposes.’ Amid the turbulent clouds of Brexit and UK political disharmony, the beacon of international cooperation …

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Proprietary estoppel: Where there’s muck there’s brass

In the first part of two articles Amanda Noyce discusses a series of recent proprietary estoppel claims concerning farms ‘There are six recently reported cases involving the concept of proprietary estoppel, where the principles emphasised (although not established) in Thorner have been honed.’ Proprietary estoppel appeals to those of us involved in Chancery work – …

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