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Lattimer v Karamanoli [2023] WTLR 1433
Winter 2023 #193Evi Kalodiki (the testatrix) passed away on 31 December 2018, having executed a purported will dated 27 December 2018 (the will) and married the claimant on 28 December 2018. The claimant maintained that the will was revoked by the testatrix’s marriage to him. The defendant was the testatrix’s sister and was named as a beneficiary in the will.
By an application to the Central Family Court, the defendant sought a declaration under s55 of the Family Law Act 1986 in respect of the status of the marriage, contending, among other things, that the marriage was invalid under s3 of the Ma...
Lumb v Lumb [2023] WTLR 1459
Winter 2023 #193This was an appeal against the decision of Deputy District Judge Whitehead dated 13 December 2022, whereby he made no order as to costs but granted the claimant permission to appeal following his successful summary judgment application, by which the claimant had sought and obtained pronouncement in solemn form in favour of the validity of the will of his mother, Ina Margaret Lumb (deceased), and ancillary orders. The learned judge found that the usual costs rule that costs follow the event did not apply because it was displaced by CPR r57.7(5)(b) under which the court would not make an o...
McLean & ors v McLean [2023] WTLR 1495
Winter 2023 #193In 2017 a husband and wife executed mirror wills leaving their respective estates to the survivor and the residue to their four children in equal shares. In March 2019 the husband died and the wife inherited his estate. In August 2019 the wife executed a new will leaving her entire estate to one son, the defendant in the proceedings. She died 11 days afterwards. The three remaining children argued that the 2017 wills were mutual and that the wife’s estate was therefore held on trust for them equally. They relied on a conversation between the husband and wife and their solicitor where, in...
Rea v Rea & ors [2023] WTLR 1509
Winter 2023 #193The dispute concerned which will of the deceased, Anna Rea, should be admitted to probate. Her first will dated 29 May 1986 gave all of her property to such of her four children as should survive her, if more than one in equal shares absolutely, subject to them surviving her by 28 days (the 1986 will).
A more recent will dated 7 December 2015 (the 2015 will) was witnessed by the solicitor who prepared it and the deceased’s GP. It provided for the deceased’s house to be left to the claimant, on account of the care she had given the deceased, with the residue to be divided between h...
Sangha v Sangha & ors [2023] WTLR 1561
Winter 2023 #193Mr Hartar Singh Sangha made a will in 2007 dealing with both his English assets and his Indian assets. The 2007 will was executed as follows: Mr Sangha signed the will in the presence of one witness; that witness then signed the will; the second witness then entered, Mr Sangha acknowledged his signature in the presence of both witnesses and the second witness signed the will. In 2016, Mr Sangha made a further will in India dealing with his Indian assets. The 2016 will was declared to be Mr Sangha’s last will and contained a revocation clause revoking ‘all such previous documents’.
Alizade & ors v Kudlick [2023] WTLR 795
Autumn 2023 #192Mr Kudlick, a chartered accountant and the defendant, was a trustee of the Marian Miller Settlement from 1973 and was later an executor and trustee of the estates of Marian Miller’s late parents, Harold Miller, who died on 29 December 1984, and Ethel Miller, who died on 26 December 1987. With his co-executor Mr Levy, Mr Kudlick was responsible as executor for the administration of the estates of the late Harold and Ethel Miller. He and Mr Levy were trustees of three trusts, the property of which comprised one-quarter of Harold’s and one quarter of Ethel’s residuary estates, together with...
Baker & anr v Hewston [2023] WTLR 815
Autumn 2023 #192Stanley was married to Agnes and had three children: Ronald, Martin and Jennifer. He also had eight grandchildren including Jennifer’s daughter Emma and Ronald’s son Luke. Stanley separated from Agnes in the 1980s and moved in with his partner Kathleen, supported for many years by her daughter, the defendant. In 2010, Stanley and Kathleen each made wills leaving half shares in their new jointly owned home in Birmingham (the ‘Bungalow’) to Martin and the defendant. Kathleen died in April 2014 and Stanley handed the deeds to the Bungalow to the defendant in an envelope marked ‘Di, keep saf...
Bhaur & ors v Equity First Trustees (Nevis) Ltd & ors [2023] WTLR 851
Autumn 2023 #192In March 2007 Safe Investments Management UK (Safe), an unlimited company, transferred its shares in Gooch Investment (Gooch) to Equity Trust (BVI) Ltd, a trust company (2007 transfer), to be held on the terms of a settlement for the benefit of qualifying employees of Safe (First Staff Remuneration Trust). This transfer followed the transfer of interests in UK business assets (the estate) from the first and second appellants (Mr and Mrs Bhaur) to Safe and from Safe to its subsidiary Gooch. All these transfers took place as part of a tax scheme (scheme) promoted by Mr O’Toole, who operate...
Etroy & anr v Speechly Bircham LLP [2023] WTLR 885
Autumn 2023 #192The first claimant (the settlor), who was then non-domiciled in the UK, established the Helios April Trust (HAT) in Jersey in 2002. As events then stood, the trust held excluded property for inheritance tax purposes and in which the settlor had an interest in possession. The Finance Act 2006 significantly changed the tax regime for trusts, principally by removing many of the differences between the tax treatment of life interest trusts on the one hand and discretionary trusts on the other. In particular, any additions of UK-situs assets to interest in possession trusts were treated as ‘r...
Executors of the estate of Linington & anr v Commissioners for HMRC [2023] WTLR 917
Autumn 2023 #192The deceased had made certain inheritance tax planning arrangements which involved the assignment of the reversionary interest of the reversionary beneficiary in MTrust (a 150-year Isle of Man trust) to the deceased, who was then granted an option to become the income beneficiary of the MTrust. Prior to the exercise of the option, the deceased transferred his reversionary interest to the KTrustees in 2010 (prior to the enactment of s74A-C Finance Act 2012).
HMRC issued two notices of determination under s221 of the Inheritance Act 1984 against the executors of the deceased’s estat...
James v Scudamore & ors [2023] WTLR 961
Autumn 2023 #192The deceased died on 21 June 2010. His will, dated 6 March 1998, gave a life interest in the matrimonial home to his second wife, with remainders to the claimant and his brother, who were children of the deceased’s first marriage. A codicil, dated 26 December 2002, replaced the life interest with an absolute gift to the second wife. The deceased’s second wife obtained probate, relying on a copy of the codicil as the original could not be found, and administered the estate. The second wife made a will by which 70% of her residuary estate went to her sister, and 30% to the claimant’s three...
Larsen & anr v Annan [2023] WTLR 1023
Autumn 2023 #192The deceased, George, was the father of the three parties. He died leaving a will dated 26 March 2013. It made a gift of £10,000 to each of his three children, with the residue being left to his wife Lilly. In the event she predeceased him (as happened) it was left to his daughter Heather, the defendant, absolutely. It also appointed Heather as executrix. The estate was valued at approximately £480,000.
It was clear from the attendance notes surrounding the drawing up of the will that the deceased did not regard the claimants as having behaved well. Wayne had killed his niece’s pa...
Naidoo v Barton & anr [2023] WTLR 1047
Autumn 2023 #192Nirmalathevie Naidoo (Mrs Naidoo) died on 10 February 2016. Her husband, Dr Govindarajaloo Naidoo (Dr Naidoo), had predeceased her on 12 January 1999. They had two daughters and five sons. The first defendant, David Barton (Mr Barton) (formerly known as Ramamurthie Naidoo), was one of their children, and his wife (Mrs Barton) was the second defendant. The claimant was another of their children.
By this claim, the claimant sought:
(1) an order pronouncing in solemn form for the validity of Mrs Naidoo’s will dated 21 July 2015 (the 2015 will), by which he was appointed sole exe...Pead v Prostate Cancer UK & ors [2023] WTLR 1089
Autumn 2023 #192James Murray McKay (the deceased) left a will dated 3 August 2016 (the will).
Clauses 4.1 – 4.3 of the will were pecuniary legacies to a number of the deceased’s family members (the family members). Clause 4.1 gifted £50,000 each to the deceased’s stepson and wife, clause 4.2 gifted £10,000 to the deceased’s step great-granddaughter, and clause 4.3 gifted £20,000 each to three step grandchildren.
Clauses 4.4 – 4.8 were legacies to a number of charities (the charities). Clauses 4.4 and 4.5 each gifted £2,000 to Macmillan Cancer Support for the benefit of stated causes, claus...
Pride v Commissioners for HMRC [2023] WTLR 1109
Autumn 2023 #192The appeal was brought by Mr Pride in his capacity as executor of the estate of Geraldine Jill Price (deceased) (Mrs Pride) against notices of determination issued by HMRC on 18 October 2018. Immediately before her death Mrs Pride was the principal beneficiary of a family trust established on 10 October 2002 (the property trust). Immediately prior to Mrs Pride’s death the property trust:
(1) held a property in Poole (the flat), which was leased to an unrelated party; (2) was the provider of an indemnity to St James’ Place Corporate Nominee Ltd (the nominee), which had issued certain...Sleight v Callin [2021] WTLR 1147
Autumn 2023 #192A deceased was survived by his widow and the defendant, his daughter. Although he had been a successful businessman during his lifetime, during the economic downturn that began in 2007 the deceased’s business empire collapsed, and he died heavily indebted. The defendant obtained a grant of probate of the deceased’s will and began to administer his estate with the assistance of professional advisers. More than six years after the death of the deceased, when she realised that the estate was insolvent, the defendant applied to the County Court for an insolvency administration order under th...
Tolley v No Defendant [2023] WTLR 1187
Autumn 2023 #192Caroline Fisher was an only child and her parents were deceased. In September 2020 she made a will appointing the claimant, her friend, as her executor. In January 2022, she drove into the sea and had not been seen since. The claimant issued a CPR Part 8 claim under the Presumption of Death Act 2013 for a declaration of presumption of death before the will had been proved. Section 1(5) of the 2013 Act provides that the court must refuse to hear the application if:
(a) it is made by someone other than a missing person’s spouse, civil partner, parent, child or sibling; and (b) the cou...