Re LMS [2020] WTLR 1345

The applicant was the mother and an attorney of LMS, a 21 year old who had been assessed on 11 July 2020 as lacking capacity to make financial decisions. LMS’s grandfather had died, having made a will under which 30% of his residuary estate was held in trust for LMS contingently on attaining the age of 25. LMS was in receipt of a means-tested benefit, Employment and Support Allowance, and her placement in a specialist residential college was funded by the local authority, the residential component of which was also means tested. Her right to receive those means-tested benefits would ceas...

Mackay v Wesley [2020] WTLR 1359

The appellant was appointed a trustee of the Ellen Morris 1990 Settlement (settlement) by a deed of appointment and retirement of trustees dated 19 March 2003. Her co-trustees were her father, the defendant, and Browne Jacobson Trustees Ltd (BJTL). Previously, a decision had been taken to embark on a ‘round the world’ capital gains tax avoidance scheme in relation to the settlement. This involved appointing Mauritian trustees and realising offshore gains where there was no capital gains tax, distributing the proceeds and then appointing UK-resident trustees in the same tax year of assess...

Re Noble [2020] WTLR 1371

John Robinson Noble (Mr Noble) died in 2014. The plaintiff was his youngest daughter, and the first and second defendants were respectively his eldest daughter and his son. Mr Noble left a will, of which the first defendant was the sole executrix. The will provided that Mr Noble’s estate should be held in trust for such of his children as survived him by 14 days and if more than one then in equal shares. His will expressed the wish that either of his daughters be permitted to live in his dwelling house (the family home) for so long as they require, but making clear that this expression w...

O’Neill v Holland [2020] WTLR 1397

This was a second appeal against the decision of HHJ Pelling to overturn the trial judge’s order declaring inter alia that A was a 50% beneficial owner of A and R’s former home (the property) under a common intention constructive trust.

The trial judge had found that A’s father had bought the property in 1998 with the intention that it should be A and R’s family home. In 2008, A’s father had transferred the property to R for nil consideration. The trial judge had found that A’s father intended A to have a beneficial interest in it and had originally planned to transfer it into A a...

PTNZ v AS & ors [2020] WTLR 1423

In the course of the claimant’s application as trustee of four discretionary trusts in similar terms governed by English law for the blessing of momentous decisions, AS (the settlor and the original protector of the trusts) died.

The trusts had been varied soon after they were declared to expand the powers of the protector to give and withhold consent to the exercise of powers by the trustee. In the absence of a protector the trustee was free to exercise those powers without obtaining a third-party consent. The trusts were administered in Jersey on behalf of the claimant, a profes...

The Donkey Sanctuary & ors v Bacchus & ors [2020] WTLR 1447

Leonard Dunthorn (Mr Dunthorn) died in 2018, leaving a will pursuant to which the residue of his estate, after a pecuniary legacy, was to pass to his sister Ruby Watts (Mrs Watts), provided she survived him by 28 days. If she did not do so, the residue was to be divided between ten named charities. Mrs Watts survived Mr Dunthorn by more than 28 days and became entitled to his residue. She in turn passed away in 2019, leaving a will which left her residue (after a number of pecuniary legacies) to 11 named charities, the first ten of which were those charities that had been named in Mr Dun...

Webb v Webb [2020] WTLR 1461

The appeal arose in a dispute between husband and wife about the matrimonial property available for division.

After Mr and Mrs Webb were married in 2005, Mr Webb established two family trusts for the purpose of acquiring land and other assets in the Cook Islands (the Arorangi Trust and the Webb Family Trust).

The Arorangi Trust was established with Mr Webb as sole trustee, and Mr Webb and his son Sebastian as the two beneficiaries. The deed provided for a consultant to assist the trustee and for who could remove the trustee, request early vesting of the property and consent...

Ralph v Ralph WTLR(w) 2021-04

A house was purchased in the joint names of the defendant and his son, the claimant. At least part of the reason for the claimant’s inclusion was that it allowed the defendant to benefit from a mortgage needed to finance the purchase. The TR1 bore an ‘X’ in Box 11 which appeared next to the words ‘the transferees are to hold the property on trust for themselves as tenants in common in equal shares’. The claimant sought a declaration that the property was held as described by Box 11 and an order for sale. The defendant maintained in a number of witness statements that the ticking of Box 1...

Mackay v Wesley WTLR(w) 2021-03

Coles v Reynolds & anr WTLR(w) 2021-02

Anaghara v Anaghara & ors WTLR(w) 2021-01

The long-term partner and customary wife of the deceased claimed that a proprietary estoppel arose in her favour as to the matrimonial home. At first instance, the County Court awarded her a life interest in the property in satisfaction of her equity. On appeal, the High Court upheld the award of the life interest finding that she had detrimentally relied on assurances given by her customary husband, by not purchasing a house of her own. She was not required to demonstrate in great detail how she would have acquired such a house – by virtue of the representations of the deceased she had ...

Re Wales [2020] WTLR 1121

The deceased died on 17 February 2015 as a widower with no children. He left a will dated 22 December 2008. The claimants were his executors.

Clause 7 of the will left the residuary estate to ‘such all of my nephew’s and niece’s children’. At the date of his death, the deceased had two blood nephews and two blood nieces, and also three nephews by marriage and one niece by marriage. A further nephew by marriage had died in 1992 leaving a son. The claimants sought directions as to whether the gift was just to the nieces and nephews by blood, or whether it was also to the nieces and ...

Swan & ors v Gibbs & ors [2020] WTLR 1109

Applications under the Variation of Trusts Act 1958 were made in respect of will trusts referred to as ‘the Baronetcy Trust’, under which property was held in two funds known as ‘James’s Fund’ and ‘James’s Children’s Fund’, and ‘the Lady Cayzer Will Trust’ in relation to property termed ‘the Molly & Lily Shares’. The primary beneficiaries of the relevant trusts were James Cayzer-Colvin and his two daughters, Molly (aka Mollie) and Lily. At the time of the applications James was 55, Mollie 24 and Lily 21. There were no minor beneficiaries of the trusts but persons unborn or unascertai...

Re Studdert [2020] WTLR 1097

The deceased died on 9 August 2017. The claimants were his personal representatives. The defendants were the trustees of the EAC Educational Trust, a charitable trust created by the deceased which was the residuary beneficiary under the deceased’s will.

The deceased was convicted in 1988 of possessing indecent images of children and in 1996 of attempting to import indecent images. In 2006 he pleaded guilty to 26 counts of possessing, making, and distributing indecent images of children. He had also had his licence to minister suspended and was prohibited from exercising any priest...

Sofer v SwissIndependent Trustees SA [2020] WTLR 1075

The claimant was the intended beneficiary of the Puyol trust (the trust) which was created in discretionary form by Hyman Sofer (the settlor) in July 2006. The defendant was a professional trustee company based in Switzerland. The settlor was added as a ‘specified beneficiary’ while the claimant and other issue of the settlor became ‘general beneficiaries’. The trust included a power for the trustee to lend any money forming part of the trust assets to any beneficiary and there was a prohibition on the trustee paying any part of the capital to any beneficiary prior to the death of the se...

Smith & anr v Stanley & ors [2020] WTLR 1059

The testator died in March 2015. By his last will of 14 March 2015 (the will) the testator gave the sum of £4.2m (the legacy fund) to his trustees to be held upon trust to pay the income to his widow for life, subject to an overriding power of appointment in clause 4 of the will for the benefit of a class of discretionary beneficiaries including the testator’s sister. The testator left a letter of wishes for his trustees which indicated how he wanted his estate to be shared between the various members of the discretionary class. By clause 19 of the will the statutory power of advancement...

Shapton v Seviour (Costs) [2020] WTLR 1053

The claimant had brought a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 for reasonable financial provision from the estate of her late father, which, under the terms of his will, had passed in its entirety to the defendant.

The defendant was the deceased’s late wife. Shortly subsequent to the death of the deceased, she was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. This had meant that she required assistance in conducting the litigation. The defendant received assistance from a former partner in a large London law firm (Alan Johnson), acting as her McKenzi...

Shapton v Seviour [2020] WTLR 1047

The claimant was the daughter of the late Mr Colin John Seviour. The defendant was Mr Seviour’s second wife. Under the terms of Mr Seviour’s will the defendant was to take the entire estate outright. Mr Seviour died on 8 August 2016. His estate was sworn at £268,000 of which £215,000 was comprised in his share of the matrimonial home he had held under a tenancy in common together with the defendant.

In 2017 the defendant was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. In order to retain her independence she had to have the matrimonial home modified to accommodate her needs. The defendan...

Rettendon Parish Council v Hart & ors [2020] WTLR 1029

On 5 December 1861 an award made under the Inclosure Act 1845 created two separate charitable trusts of plots of land within the parish of Rettendon in Essex: the Allotment for Exercise and Recreation (charity number 271480) and the Allotment for the Labouring Poor (charity number 271479).

The claimant was the local civil parish council, established by s1(1) of the Local Government Act 1894. The defendants were current or former members of the parish council. Between 2013 and 2017 a series of appointments of individual parish councillors as trustees of the charities had been made ...

Lehtimäki & ors v Cooper [2020] WTLR 967

H and C were two directors and trustees of a charitable company limited by guarantee. They, together with L, were the members of the company. In July 2015 H and C agreed that, subject to the approval of the Charity Commission or the court, C would resign as a director and member of the company and the company would make a grant of $360m to a charity founded by C.

Companies Act 2006, s217 provides that:

‘A company may not make a payment for loss of office to a director of the company unless the payment has been approved by a resolution of the members of the company’.

...