Manton & ors v Manton [2021] WTLR 245

The 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

In 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

P, 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

The 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

The 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

The 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

A 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...

Wills & anr v Sowray WTLR(w) 2021-07

Hinduja v Hinduja & ors WTLR(w) 2021-06

The 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

The 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...

Auden McKenzie (Pharma Division) Ltd v Patel [2020] WTLR 1133

This was an appeal against summary judgment on a claim for equitable compensation for £13,149,479 plus interest at 2.5% pa compounded annually.

A was a director of R. A and his sister (Ms Patel) had founded R and had been sole directors and (directly and indirectly) owned all of the shares. Between 2009 and 2014, A had caused R to pay £13,763,452 against sham invoices to Dubai companies. The Dubai companies had retained 5-10% of the invoiced sums and paid the balance to A (and Ms Patel’s) personal bank accounts, to them in cash, and to third parties for the purchase of a New York ...

Commissioners for HMRC v Parry & ors [2020] WTLR 1151

The appellants were the three executors of Mrs Staveley’s estate, two of whom were also her sons. Mrs Staveley held a pension scheme on which she had decided never to draw, with the aim of maximising the death benefit that would accrue to her sons under the scheme. Under the terms of her will, her estate was to be held on trust for her two sons in equal shares. Shortly prior to her death Mrs Staveley had transferred funds from her existing pension scheme into a new personal pension plan (PPP). The motives out of which she had done so were contested between the parties, the appellants all...

Cotterell & anr v Allendale & anr [2020] WTLR 1183

The claimants as trustees of the Allendale 1949 Settlement applied to extend their administrative powers under s57 of the Trustee Act 1925 and the inherent jurisdiction of the court to include a power to re-appropriate assets between the various sub-funds comprised in the settlement, on the ground that they lacked the power under the settlement and it would be expedient for them to have such power in order to effect a certain tax mitigation strategy.

The claimants further applied for other administrative powers which they lacked to be conferred on them, even though they were not r...

Culliford & anr v Thorpe [2020] WTLR 1205

The deceased purchased a property in Weston-super-Mare (the Weston property) in his sole name in 2002 with the aid of a mortgage loan. He met the defendant in early 2010 and by the end of the year the defendant had moved into the Weston property with the deceased and it became his main residence. The defendant undertook repair and decoration jobs around the property, including repairing the boiler and decorating the main bedroom, and undertook work for others in return for work on the property by them. The general outgoings for the property and for the lifestyle of the deceased and the d...

Evans v Evans & anr [2020] WTLR 1231

The claimant was married to the deceased, and was the sole beneficiary of the deceased’s estate. The claimant, who suffered from motor neurone disease and lacked capacity, was represented by her litigation friend, her daughter. The defendants were the executors of the deceased’s estate, and were the sons of the deceased and the claimant, and the brothers of the claimant’s litigation friend.

In contested probate proceedings, the claimant sought, inter alia, an order removing the defendants as executors of the deceased’s estate and the appointment of an independent administrator.