Nigel Sanders examines changes of trustees and protectors in contentious circumstances ‘The court held that the appointment of the new trustee and removal of the trustees were such closely linked decisions and exercises of the powers of appointment, that they stood and fell together.’Most modern trust instruments will contain provisions which grant certain individuals the …
Continue reading "Trusts: Do your homework"
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Claire Blakemore suggests that when dealing with trust assets, even the powers of the family courts have their limits ‘Any inconsistencies between how the trust is used or the trust documentation and the presentation to the court can have a significant impact on the outcome.’ The law on the treatment of trusts on divorce is …
Continue reading "Trusts: A safe foundation"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | December 2016 #165A trustee (T) of Bermudian trusts applied to the Bermudian court by an originating summons for directions. The originating summons named the settlor and principal beneficiaries as defendants. The application invoked the Bermudian court’s supervisory jurisdiction over Bermudian trusts.
The issue arose as to whether T needed leave to serve the originating summons on four overseas resident defendants.
Held:
- 1) Leave for service of an originating summons out of the jurisdiction is not required for non-contentious applications by Bermudian trustees for directions ...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | December 2016 #165This case involved a claim by one of the trustees of the Pemberton Settled Estates, originally created on 31 March 1965, for a variation of the settlement. The first to third defendants were the other trustees of the settlement who had in mind the unborn and unascertained beneficiaries. There were also four adult defendants and four defendants who were minor beneficiaries. All defendants supported the variation.
The claimant proposed the following variation:
- a) to set the perpetuity period running afresh for a further 125 years;
- b) to confer on the trustees a...
Katherine Hallett highlights a case that demonstrates the weight the court gives to the fact matrix when considering a possible declaration of trust ‘Practitioners should not refer to a “trust” unless they do actually intend to import the full legal meaning of that word into their document.’ Mr and Mrs Singha divorced in 2010. A …
Continue reading "Trusts: When is a ‘trust’ not a trust?"
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Peter Steen and Robert Hines examine firewall legislation and the tension between legal fairness and economic expediency ‘It is evident that provisions of firewall legislation will prevail over questions of comity in circumstances where action by the trustees would result in them exceeding their powers under the trust.’ Asset protection, rather than legitimate tax mitigation, …
Continue reading "Trusts: Finding a way"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | October 2016 #163Evelyn Irene Farmer (the deceased) died on 12 January 1996 leaving a will dated 10 August 1993 (the will). The claimants were five of the ten charitable remaindermen under the trusts created under the will. They took absolutely upon the deaths of the deceased’s son and daughter in law. The deceased’s son was deceased but the daughter in law was still alive, and consequently the claimants’ interests were yet to fall into possession. The defendants were the executors of the deceased’s estate.
In 2007, the defendants wrote to the claimants enclosing an interim...
Mark Pawlowski discusses the case law on testamentary trusts for useless or capricious purposes ‘Unwarranted restrictions on the use of estate property, as opposed to their outright destruction, have been struck down on principles of wastefulness and harm to individuals or community.’The notion that a trust may fail because it serves no useful purpose or …
Continue reading "Trusts: Folly engaged"
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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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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | June 2016 #160HN (the wife) married AN (the husband) on 30 September 2001. In July 2000 they had chosen a property known as Brooklands Farm (Brooklands) to be their future matrimonial home; it had been purchased in July 2000 for £725,000 by a Bahamian company called WP Ltd, which was owned by a Guernsey trust called the F Trust.
The F Trust was created on behalf of AN’s grandparents by a trust deed dated 19 January 1989. In 1998 various beneficiaries had received distributions in satisfaction of their respective entitlements and from this date only AN remained a beneficiary. In July 2000...
