BJ v MJ [2011] EWHC 2708 (Fam)

April 2012 #118

The husband (H) and the wife (W) were both 65, having married in 1980. There was one child of the marriage (C), aged 25. The former matrimonial home was Green Farm, a substantial property set in 72 acres in Kent. Trust assets fell to be divided following divorce.

In order to mitigate tax on the floatation of his company (ABC), two Jersey trusts were created by H in 1994 (No. 1 Trust and No. 2 Trust) and a company incorporated in the British Virgin Island called Giloch Investments Ltd (Giloch). No. 1 Trust was a discrertionary trust for a class of beneficiaries comprising H, W, C, ...

Burgess & anr v Hawes & ors 0CL10537

April 2012 #118

Daphne Mary Burgess (testatrix), who was a widow, had made a will on 23 September 1996 (1996 will) leaving her entire estate equally between her three children, the first and second claimants and the first defendant. At that time, she was living at 8 Abbey Way, Bradville, Milton Keynes (8 Abbey Way) and, while retaining a sense of financial independence, she relied on her son for the payment of household bills. Her physical health deteriorated as she became older, medication was already required for hypertension when she was diagnosed with diabetes, and an arthritic condition worsened to...

Burgess & anr v Hawes & ors [2011] UKFTT 687 (TC)

April 2012 #118

Zoe Hamar (Z) was notified of an assessment to capital gains tax (CGT) for 2002/03 under s282 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act (TCGA) 1992, in a letter dated 18 August 2009. Prior to that date she had been unaware of the liability that arose from her father, Mr Rogerson (R)’s transfer of three flats to her, one in 2001/02 and two in 2002/03. These transfers gave rise to a CGT liability which was unpaid at his death in June 2003. Following an enquiry by HMRC into R’s tax returns, an amendment was made to his 2002/03 return on 25 July 2007 and, although...

Re JDS; Smyth v JDS [2012] COP 10334473

April 2012 #118

In 2001 the patient, J, received a settlement of £2,090,000 damages in respect of cerebral palsy suffered as a result of complications at the time of his birth in 1991. Of this, £1,611,222 was attributable to his future care needs. J is an only child. His father was born in 1959 and his mother in 1962. He lives with them in a house bought in October 2000 for £349,950 from an interim payment that is held by his parents and Mr Smyth (S), his receiver (now the deputy) as his trustees. Its current value is estimated at £675,000. J’s life expectancy was originally assessed in 1998 as la...

Perdoni & anr v Curati [2011] EWHC 3442 (Ch)

April 2012 #118

Perluigi Curati (Mr Curati), who had a domicile of origin in Italy, came to England in April 1955 from Carpaneto to work for his future parents-in-law, who ran a restaurant in Camden. They had previously emigrated from the same town but their daughter was born in England. Mr Curati married Mrs Curati (née Perdoni) in July 1955 and shortly afterwards took over the running of the restaurant, which they eventually sold in the late 1970s. They invested the proceeds in the purchase of real property, to add to a portfolio of investment properties that they had started to build up in England. I...

Quigley v Masterson [2011] EWHC 2529 (Ch)

April 2012 #118

The appellant (Mrs Quigley) appealed to Henderson J from an adjudication by HM Land Registry that the joint tenancy of her father (Mr Pilkington) and the respondent (Mrs Masterson) had not been severed prior to Mr Pilkington’s death on 20 March 2009.

Mr Pilkington and Mrs Masterson lived together between 1978 and 2001 but never married. They bought 173 North Street, Coventry (North Street) as joint tenants on 24 August 1992. Their relationship ended in 2001 and Mrs Masterson left North Street. In 2002, Mr Pilkington’s solicitor attempted to sever the joint tenancy. Th...

Rogge & ors v HMRCC [2012] UKFTT 49 (TC)

April 2012 #118

There were three joined appeals, namely that of R who had paid interest under a loan to the trustees of a trust of which he was the settlor and those of K and the trustees of a trust in which K, the settlor, was interested. K had paid rent to the trustees of a trust under which he was a settlor and of which he was the life tenant. All appealed income tax assessments on the basis that it is impossible for a taxpayer to be taxed on his own expense. Parliament could not have intended s660A(1) of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 to have this effect. Section 660...

Wright & anr v Gater & anr [2011] EWHC 2881 (Ch)

April 2012 #118

Edward Greenstreet died intestate on 28 October 2009 and his estate of £514,600 passed to his son, Kieran. Kieran died intestate on 17 May 2010. Kieran’s estate of £6,000, combined with the estate of Edward, passed to Kieran’s three year old son, Rory Greenstreet. The aggregated estates were held on statutory trusts for Rory contingently on his attaining 18 or marrying or forming a civil partnership under that age.

Kieran’s personal representatives were Ellen Wright (Kieran’s partner and Rory’s mother) and Michael Greenstreet (Kieran’s uncle). ...

AR v AR [2011] EWHC 2717 (Fam)

April 2012 #118

The parties separated after a relationship of approximately 25 years and the wife commenced divorce proceedings (decree nisi being pronounced in October 2010). They had one child who was aged 18 (the husband had three children by his first marriage). The husband was aged 66 and the wife 54.

The total wealth was in the region of £21-£24m (all but approximately £1m was in the husband’s name). The source of the husband’s wealth was a business that his father bought shortly after the second world war, which floated in the 1950s and sold in the late 1980s. From his father, the husband ...