Hudson v Hathway [2022] WTLR 973
Autumn 2022 #188The parties had started a relationship in 1990. Mr Hudson had moved into Ms Hathway’s home and become joint owner. They did not marry and had two sons. The home was sold and another bought in joint names. In 2007 they purchased Picnic House with a mortgage. It was again purchased in joint names with no declaration of trusts. They separated in 2009, with Ms Hathway staying at Picnic House. The mortgage was converted to an interest-only mortgage. It continued to be paid from a joint account into which both of their salaries had been paid.
In July and August 2013 there was an exchang...
Hughes v Pritchard & ors [2022] WTLR 993
Autumn 2022 #188The testator owned substantial real estate, including two plots of farmland and a cottage. He had three children. His son Elfed began working on the farmland from a young age and in 1999 acquired neighbouring farmland which he farmed together with the testator’s land. In due course Elfed brought his own son to work with him on the farm.
The testator had made his testamentary intentions clear for some time, namely that his son Gareth and daughter Carys (the appellant and first respondent respectively) should inherit shares in a family company and Elfed should inherit the farmland k...
Jennison & anr v Jennison [2022] WTLR 1027
Autumn 2022 #188The claimant at first instance was the widow of the deceased and the personal representative of his estate. The defendants were the deceased’s brother and sister-in-law. The claimant sought declaratory relief, an order for sale and compensation flowing from the defendants’ alleged breach of trust in dealing with land. The defendants defended the claim on the basis of a lack of standing as the claim form had been issued before the foreign grant of probate was resealed in the UK. The defendants appealed the refusal to grant them summary judgment or strike out on this basis.
Held (d...
Orb A.R.L & ors v Ruhan & ors [2022] WTLR 1049
Autumn 2022 #188The case concerned various agreements (including a sale purchase agreement, a headstay agreement and an alleged oral agreement) transacted between the claimants and the defendant (among others) in connection with a business venture. It was alleged that the oral agreement obliged the defendant to redevelop, restructure, manage and/or dispose of assets within a hotel portfolio in order to maximise the financial benefit realised from such assets, and then to pay a share of the net financial benefit from such activity to the claimants. The true intention behind the oral agreement was a matte...
Pangou v Nzoulou [2022] WTLR 1093
Autumn 2022 #188The deceased died intestate in England at the age of 45. The defendant was his partner who was pregnant with his third child. The claimant was one of his children from a previous relationship. Both wished to dispose of his body. The claimant wished to bury the body in France (where two of the deceased’s six children, his two sisters, his mother, and other family members lived). The defendant wished to bury the body in England (his home for the last 13 years of his life, and where she and most of his children lived). A joint expert report indicated that a journal entry stating that the de...
Parsons & anr v Reid & anr [2022] WTLR 1103
Autumn 2022 #188William Reid (the deceased) died on 20 March 2018. He left a will dated 20 December 2004 and codicil dated 8 February 2012 (together the will), which appointed the claimants, Nicholas Parsons and Mark Hill (respectively the deceased’s solicitor and land agent), as executors and trustees, and left the residuary estate on discretionary trusts for classes including his children and grandchildren. The defendants, Stephen Reid and Judith Shaw, were the deceased’s children. The deceased also left a letter of wishes which expressed the wish that payments be made to Stephen reflecting various mo...
Prickly Bay Waterside Ltd v British American Insurance Company Ltd [2022] WTLR 1115
Autumn 2022 #188Prickly Bay was engaged in the development of houses and apartments at L’Ance Aux Epines, St George, Grenada. Its principal director was Richard Lee, husband of Rosa Lee. Two adjacent properties were owned by a Mr Steele. Following a dispute between Prickly Bay and Mr Steele a consent order was entered into providing that Prickly Bay would purchase the adjacent properties for US$5m. It was a term of the consent order that Prickly Bay would provide a bank guarantee for US$2.25m. The respondent, BAICO, gave the guarantee.
Mr and Mrs Lee, and Prickly Bay, entered into a loan agreemen...
The Public Guardian v RI & ors [2022] WTLR 1133
Autumn 2022 #188The court had to determine whether the donor (RD) under a lasting power of attorney for property and financial affairs executed in 2009 (the LPA) had had the capacity to execute it. RD had a learning disability and chronic schizophrenia for which he continued to receive treatment. The LPA was purportedly executed on 17 December 2009 by RD, who appointed his brothers (RI and RO) and his mother to be his attorneys. The LPA complied with the requisite formalities. At the time RD was living with his mother, but following her death in 2015 he was moved to a care home where he continued to liv...
Whittle v Whittle & anr [2022] WTLR 1153
Autumn 2022 #188The deceased executed his will on 15 November 2016 and died on 7 December 2016 from leukaemia. Pursuant to the will, a bequest of cars and other chattels was made to the claimant (the deceased’s son), while the defendants (the deceased’s daughter and her partner) were made executors and beneficiaries of the residuary estate. The will justified the provision to the claimant on the basis that he had become estranged from the deceased.
The claimant challenged the will on the basis of fraudulent calumny, undue influence and want of knowledge and approval. In particular, the claimant c...
Re X Foundation Trust [2022] WTLR 1165
Autumn 2022 #188The sole trustee of the X Foundation Trust, a Bahamas trust, applied to the court for directions pending the determination of two sets of proceedings before a foreign court (the foreign court proceedings), with respect to the mental capacity of the settlor of the trust (the settlor).
The trust was a discretionary trust whose class of beneficiaries included the settlor and members of his family, as well as companies which received distributions from the trust to pursue charitable activities. The trust instrument provided for a protector, termed an appointor, with power to appoint a...