Morris v Davies & ors [2012] EWHC 1981 (Ch)
November 2012 #124The deceased, Owen Davies (D), was born in England but died in France. He was living in Belgium at the time but owned a house in England and had made a will in England some 12 years before his death under which the fifth defendant, his uncle Clive Davies (Clive), was interested in residue. He was not on good terms with his mother and siblings represented by the first to third defendants (the family defendants (FD)) when he made his will and they contested probate proceedings claiming that D had died domiciled in Belgium and that the will was null and void under Belgium law, pleaded that ...
Scarfe & anr v Matthews & ors Claim number: HC12C0096
November 2012 #124Bernard Trevor Matthews (testator) died on 25 November 2010 and was survived by the defendants, who were his son, longstanding partner and three adopted children respectively. His estate included a property in France called Villa Bolinha estimated at €15m and property elsewhere estimated at £40m. Although (as he was aware) French law only permitted the testator to leave the second defendant 25% of Villa Bolinha since his children were as of right entitled to 75%, he made a will in France (French will) leaving it to her absolutely. By a letter of wishes, he nevertheless hoped that his chi...
Re Shuldham [2012] EWHC 1420 (Ch)
November 2012 #124The applicant intended to bring a claim for rectification of an instrument by which he and two other family members had purported to grant an interest in land and a lease commencing in the year 2040. The instrument was part of a larger scheme in relation to a deceased’s estate, whereby the freehold of properties subject to it were held by the deceased’s daughter (XH) with a lease in favour of her, currently minor, child (XB). The purpose of this scheme was a reduction in XH’s estate over time so as to mitigate future inheritance tax liabilities.
The family’s concern about bringing...
Suggitt v Suggitt & anr [2012] EWCA Civ 1140
November 2012 #124Frank Edward Suggitt (Frank) died on 25 October 2009 leaving his entire estate (400 acres of farmland and several house) to his daughter Caroline. John, Frank’s son, was left nothing. Frank’s will, executed in 1997, expressed the wish (without creating a trust) that if at any time, in the opinion of Caroline, John showed himself capable of working and managing the farmland, that Caroline would transfer it to John.
The Suggitts had farmed in North Yorkshire for many generations. John was the youngest and only son. He had attended agricultural college at Frank’s expense, but left be...
The X Primary Care Trust v XB & anr [2012] EWHC 1390 (Fam)
November 2012 #124XB, who for years had been suffering from a progressive illness (motor neurone disease), required an invasive ventilation device in order to breathe and, being unable to talk, could only communicate latterly by the movement of his eyes. The question of life-sustaining treatment had been discussed on a number of occasions with his general practitioner and a draft advance decision to refuse treatment was prepared at his behest by a mental capacity coordinator. After considering the draft, in order to explain it to XB, a further simpler document was prepared using a template found by his wi...
XCC v AA & ors [2012] EWHC 2183 (COP)
November 2012 #124DD has severe learning disabilities, little language, little comprehension of anything other than very simple matters and needs assistance with almost all aspects of her daily life. Her parents are from Bangladesh, but the family has been brought up in Britain and are British citizens. DD married AA (said to be her cousin) in 2003 in Bangladesh. AA eventually gained a spousal visa in 2009 and moved in with DD and her parents, sharing DD’s bedroom and bed. DD’s marriage came to the attention of the learning disabilities team of XCC, leading to concerns about her welfare. The police obtain...
Page & anr v Hewetts Solicitors & anr [2012] EWCA Civ 805
October 2012 #123The claimants (P) were the beneficiaries under their parents’ will. The first respondents Hewetts, solicitors (H) were retained to advise and act for P in the administration of their parents’ estates. The second respondent, Christopher Fuller (F) was employed by H as a legal executive. F was instructed by P in 1998 in relation to a sale of P’s parents’ property. Unknown to P at the time, F carried on business as a property developer through Exnine Developments (E) and recommended that P sell the property for £190,000 to Sahana Enterprises Ltd (S), which had agreed...
Scott v Scott [2012] EWHC 2397 (Ch)
October 2012 #123The claimant (Andrew) and the defendant (Martin) were brothers. They were the trustees of a trust created in 1991 by their mother (Elizabeth Scott). Andrew, Martin and Simon Jackson QC (a long standing friend of Elizabeth Scott) were the principal beneficiaries of the trust. There were other discretionary beneficiaries. Andrew had carried out the day to day administration of the trust since 2006.
The trust had formerly comprised a farm of 60 acres and a nursing home. Significant distributions were made. Andrew carried out significant works to a property known as the Barn, which wa...
Re The Sir Edward Heath charitable trust
October 2012 #123By his will dated 16 April 2002, the late Sir Edward Heath settled his home and contents, Arundells at Salisbury, upon charitable trusts. The trustees had power to apply income and capital to or for the benefit of one or more of six charitable objects, but no express power of sale save in furtherance of the charitable objects. In the years since the will was proved on 18 January 2006, annual deficits had been incurred by the trustees on opening Arundells to the public and, even after the sale of Sir Edward Heath’s papers, the balance available after eliminating the overdraft could ...