Costs: The cost of obstinacy

Emma Holland and Luca del Panta look at an international family dispute which has lessons for trustees and PRs defending removal claims ‘At the costs hearing, the widow and daughter argued that the same general rule should apply on the basis that they had been “successful”, particularly as Dr Neupert had effectively abandoned his counterclaim, …
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Trustees: First in time, first in line?

Adam Carvalho and Joseph de Lacey examine the priority of trustee indemnities ‘The original trustee argued that a pari passu approach was wrong in law, and that its claim had priority over the other creditors of the Z II Trust.’ Readers will of course know that trustees have a right to be indemnified for costs …
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Trusts: Striking an artful balance

Timothy Sherwin explores the unanimity principle, and the position of trustees managing art and cultural property ‘Strangers need only examine the trust instrument and satisfy themselves that the relevant power can be validly exercised by only some of the trustees, and they can then assume that the actual exercise by some of the trustees is …
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Wills: Deeds not words

Partnership arrangements can be problematic upon death. Katie Alsop discusses with reference to Kingsley v Kingsley ‘Had the partners signed the partnership agreement, properly recorded the ownership – both legal and beneficial – of the farm land, documented the terms on which land outside the farm land was occupied, and engaged in some element of …
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The Court of Protection: What he would have wanted

Lewis Hastie reviews the case for deputising gifts ‘While P’s wishes and feelings were clearly analysed very closely by the Court of Protection, the critical factor was more his general character and hallmarks as a person.’ A growing number of individuals and solicitors are acting as attorneys or deputies, dealing with the property and finances …
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IHT: Hoodwinked?

Luke Busbridge outlines a case that provides a reminder of the rules on reservation of benefit ‘The executors argued that because the covenants given in the sub-lease were intrinsically bound up in Lady Hood’s gift in the first place, it was impossible to separate them out in the way that HMRC had done.’ Viscount Hood …
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