Silber v HMRC [2012] UKFTT 700 (TC)
January/February 2013 #126By his will dated 12 May 1997, Martin Moses Menachem Lerner (deceased) divided his net residuary estate into ten equal shares between the appellant as to nine shares and the Chay Charitable Trust (CCT) as to one share. Subsequently, the deceased gifted £60,000 cash to the appellant and transferred in excess of £400,000 worth of quoted shares to the CCT. Following the deceased’s death on 21 October 1999, a disappointed beneficiary under a former will disputed the validity of the last will on the grounds of testamentary incapacity, but this was settled on 22 October 2001 on terms tha...
Singapore Airlines Ltd & anr v Buck Consultants Ltd [2011] EWCA Civ 1542
January/February 2013 #126Singapore Airlines Ltd (SA) brought proceedings against Buck Consultants Ltd (BC) alleging negligence in the drafting by BC of a revised version of the rules of SA’s pension scheme (scheme). A preliminary issue was tried concerning the meaning of ‘earnings’ for the purposes of the scheme. That preliminary issue had to be resolved for the purposes of SA’s negligence claim against BC. However, BC had also been appointed by the court to represent the interests of the members of the scheme on the preliminary issue.
Four issues were appealed by SA. Only Issue 4 ...
Re the Ta-Ming Wang Trust Cause no. FSD 0089 of 2010
January/February 2013 #126The first plaintiff (TMW) and members of his family are the beneficiaries under the Ta-Ming Wang Trust (the trust). The trust was intended to take advantage of a well-established tax-saving structure under which a foreign national such as TMW immigrating into Canada could obtain a five-year Canadian tax holiday on foreign source income earned by a non-resident company, owned by a non-resident trustee; ie on income by way of dividends paid by the company to the trust during the five-year tax holiday. It was established by a settlement dated 2 May 1996 made between TMW’s mother as settlor ...
Thomas v Jeffery & ors [2012] EWCA Civ 693
January/February 2013 #126The appellant (Richard) had successfully brought an application for reasonable financial provision from the estate of his late father. This had been initially expressed as a family provision and proprietary estoppel claim for some 50% of the deceased’s estate. The proprietary estoppel claim was dropped but the level of provision claimed under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 remained unaltered.
Richard provided little information on his financial position until directed to do so by the recorder at trial. This late disclosure proved the...