Manton & ors v Manton [2021] WTLR 245
Spring 2021 #182The claimants were four of the five trustees of a trust. The defendant was the other trustee. The trust property included the share capital of a holding company (‘the holding company’) which in turn had a wholly owned subsidiary (‘the subsidiary’). A third company (‘the trading company’), the shares of which were also held by the holding company, occupied and traded from premises owned by the subsidiary, to which it paid rent. This, together, with distributions of profits, generated the majority of the income flowing to the trustees. In 2016, a revocable appointment of a life interest ha...
Oberman v Collins & anr [2021] WTLR 267
Spring 2021 #182In consolidated proceedings, the claimant sought a declaration that she was beneficially entitled to 50% of 41 properties on the basis of a common intention constructive trust, a partnership or proprietary estoppel. The claimant also sought relief under ss994 and 996 of the Companies Act 2006 on the grounds of unfair prejudice.
The claimant and the first defendant were in a relationship between 1995 and 2015, moving in together in 1996, and having two children. The second defendant was incorporated on 16 September 1996: 51 shares were issued to the first defendant and two shares w...
Re P [2021] WTLR 335
Spring 2021 #182P, before his stroke, was an enterprising businessman who had made a will ten years ago by which he made provision through two trusts for his son, X. By a letter of wishes he indicated that a trust structure had been provided because of concerns that outright inheritance would be contrary to his interests. P was considering making a new will to reflect the changed position of his companies when the stroke supervened, as a result of which he lost the capacity to execute a will. Consequently, M and H made an application for authority to execute a statutory will on behalf of P and, within t...
Schumacher v Clarke & ors [2021] WTLR 353
Spring 2021 #182The claimant as one of the executors and trustees of the estate of Dame Zaha Hadid deceased, who died in 2016, brought proceedings under s50 of the Administration of Estates Act 1985 for the removal of the first to third defendants, the claimant’s co-executors and co-trustees. The claimant and the first to third defendants had had great difficulty working together in the administration of the deceased’s estate. By the time of the hearing an agreement had been reached between the parties.
Pursuant to that agreement, an employee benefit trust (EBT) was to be declared in the exercise...
Schumacher v Clarke & ors [2021] WTLR 361
Spring 2021 #182The claimant and the first to third defendants were the executors and trustees of the estate of Dame Zaha Hadid deceased, who died in 2016. The claimant and the first to third defendants had had great difficulty working together in the administration of the deceased’s estate. The claimant brought proceedings under s50 of the Administration of Estates Act 1985 for the removal of the first to third defendants and they counterclaimed seeking equivalent relief against him. By the time of the hearing an agreement had been reached between the claimant and defendant trustees. All four trustees ...
Weisz v Weisz & ors [2021] WTLR 379
Spring 2021 #182The claimant was the widow of the deceased whom she married on 19 April 2005. It was for both of them a second marriage and each had their own children. By his will dated 12 December 2017 the deceased made a specific gift to the claimant of his half-share in the matrimonial home, which was subject to a mortgage. He appointed his children as executors and the net value of the estate was stated to be not less than £4,088,336. The claimant applied for an interim provision order pursuant to s5 of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. She sought interim payments at a...
Y & anr v C & ors [2021] WTLR 391
Spring 2021 #182A claim was made under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (1975 Act) by the mothers of the deceased’s children. The deceased had owned 50% of a private company. That shareholding was valued for probate at £5m. The executors of the deceased’s estate were his sister, who owned the other 50% of the shares and was a director of the company, and a solicitor from the firm which had drafted the deceased’s will, and who was also a director of the private company. The claim under the 1975 Act was upheld against the estate (reported as B v C & ors at p1 of this issu...
Hinduja v Hinduja & ors WTLR(w) 2021-06
Web OnlyThe parties were four brothers. The claimant was the eldest brother and patriarch of the family. The litigation generally concerned the legal effectiveness or otherwise of two letters, by which the brothers had, inter alia, appointed one another as executors, and had stated that assets held in the name of any individual brother belonged to all four. Through an oversight, the claimant’s advisers had failed to file a certificate of suitability from his litigation friend (and daughter) when the claim was originally made, as required by CPR 21.5. A certificate was later filed together with a...
Guest & anr v Guest WTLR(w) 2021-05
Web OnlyThe respondent (who had been the claimant at first instance) was the eldest son of the two appellants. He had worked on the family farm full-time for some 33 years, until his relationship with his parents deteriorated. The respondent then brought proceedings against the appellants seeking a declaration of his entitlement to a beneficial interest in the farm on the basis of an alleged proprietary estoppel. At first instance, the court found in his favour, concluding that the first appellant had consistently and over time led the respondent to believe that he would inherit a sufficient sta...