Practice: Wrong direction

Alison Green and Adam Patterson consider a Privy Council decision that provides a salutary lesson on preparation for, and the conduct of, litigation ‘The decision in Bromfield provides another list of factors as to what will be insufficient for a party to establish a direct interest in property owned by a company.’The decision in Bromfield …
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Enforcement: Another chapter

Mena Ruparel outlines recent developments in Prest and the requirements to be satisfied on a judgment summons application ‘An application for a judgment summons is quite a rare beast and an unusual enforcement method: the burden of proof is the criminal standard, ie beyond a reasonable double, and not the civil standard.’ The Supreme Court …
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Conduct: The blame game

Rachel Wilmott highlights the courts’ approach when dealing with financial conduct and litigation conduct ‘There is no formulaic or accurate weighing mechanism for determining how the respective misconduct of the parties should be reflected in any order for costs.’ The decision in US v SR [2014] addresses at length the law on notional reattribution and …
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Business Assets: Future proofing

Graeme Fraser and Stephen Morrall consider the benefits of combining corporate and family law strategic advice when dealing with business assets on divorce ‘It is clear that, where a family has shared interests in a family company, the members should strive to find a common agreement to regulate those interests in as practical and tax-efficient …
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Fiduciary Duties: Rigour at all times

Pennyfeathers underscores the stringency of directors’ duties and indicates when the court will lift the corporate veil to provide a remedy for breach. Nicholas Broomfield explains ‘Lord Sumption had affirmed a limited power of the court to pierce the corporate veil in circumstances where a party was abusing corporate personality to evade their obligations.’ The …
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Trusts: In the commercial sphere

Jason Nickless describes how trusts were applied to resolve the dispute in Wise v Jimenez [2013] ‘Mr Jimenez gave a number of different accounts as to precisely how [the] moneys had been invested. After analysing the evidence, the court was satisfied that the purpose behind the investment of the moneys had not been fulfilled’. On …
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Divorce: Stuck in the middle

Claire Blakemore provides a practical guide for trustees in the event of divorce div class=”pullquote”>’Trustees must consider carefully what position they will need to take in the context of the case and in particular on disclosure and enforcement.’ The American preacher Lorenzo Dow famously said ‘damned if you do and damned if you don’t’ and …
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Trusts And Divorce: Striving for a fair result?

Mark Harper and Will MacFarlane discuss M v M, which has lessons on attacking real estate held by offshore companies ‘Both Prest and M v M are examples of the Family Division having to apply complex principles of property law.’ For those who advise clients as to how to structure the purchase of UK real …
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M v M & ors [2013] EWHC 2534 (Fam)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | December 2013 #135

The transcript of this judgment is reported in part from para 164 onwards and starts with a discussion of the law. No part of the report provides a factual narrative.

Held (allowing the wife’s claim for financial relief):

The court had power on divorce to order a party to the marriage to transfer to the other party such property as may be so specified to which that party was entitled, either in possession or reversion. In this case almost all the wealth created by the husband during the course of the marriage was held through offshore company structures and the ques...

Litigation Conduct: Drawing inferences

Frances Bailey considers the courts’ approach where a party’s conduct during proceedings is in issue ‘An analysis of any add-back argument must also include an analysis of what both parties have spent and that the argument must be analysed in context.’ As ever, the law reports are seemingly full of cases where one party’s approach …
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