Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Summer 2022 #187The trustee of a Jersey trust known as the May Trust made a Public Trustee v Cooper Category 2 application for a ‘blessing’ of its decision to make a distribution to a beneficiary (B). The primary purpose of the distribution was to allow B to benefit a charity, which was also a beneficiary of the trust. The application was uncontentious.
The trust had been declared in 2000 by a deed of appointment. The appointing trust had been settled by B’s father in Cayman in 1982. The governing law of the May Trust was changed from Cayman law to Jersey law. The assets of the appointing trust w...
Nick Williams, James Angus and Matthew Davies discuss a sham trust case that raises pertinent points for both practitioners and trustees Even a trustee who is recklessly indifferent to the intentions of the settlor must, independently, have a positive intention to mislead third parties. In its judgment in Cohen and Crooks as Joint Administrators of …
Continue reading "Offshore: The test for sham trusts"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Autumn 2021 #184The testatrix (T), whose husband predeceased her, was survived by her four children, B1, B2, B3 and B4. T had appointed B3 and the partners of a solicitor firm as the executors of her will. She left the residue of her estate on trust to be divided into four equal shares: one for the benefit of each of B1, B2 and B3, and the fourth upon discretionary trusts, which included a wide power of appointment, for the benefit of B4 and his children and remoter issue. At the time of the hearing, B4 had three adult children and one minor grandchild. T died in 2010 and probate of her will was granted...
Sukhninder Panesar looks at recent case law on liability for knowing assistance ‘In order for a stranger to be held liable for assisting in a breach of trust, a number of requirements must be met.’ What constitutes dishonesty in the English legal system has continued to challenge both civil and criminal courts. Over the last …
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James Shaw examines the criteria for establishing dishonest assistance ‘It was incumbent on Morgan J to analyse the extent to which, if at all, Mr Louanjli was required to, and did, influence the decision-making of those at Notable to accept the stolen funds from Mr Nobre.’ As with all expensive sequels, there is a resounding …
Continue reading "Breach Of Trust: Dirty money"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Summer 2017 #168This was a trial of the preliminary issue of whether claims made by the joint liquidators of two Jersey-incorporated companies against the respondents were time-barred as a matter of Jersey law.
In the proceedings, the applicants claimed that between 10 April 2007 and 10 June 2008 payments were made of €16m and €18m from ‘Level One’ and ‘Special Opportunity’ respectively, to or for the benefit of the first respondent or companies owned beneficially by him. Those payments were claimed not to have been made in good faith for a legitimate commercial purpose of the companies, and the ...
The Guernsey Court of Appeal affirms the scope of the jurisdiction conferred by Article 51 of the Trusts (Guernsey) Law 2007. Hannah Southon and Alison Meek explain ‘While some of the considerations discussed in BCD may be relevant, a more flexible test is required in order for the court to achieve justice on behalf of …
Continue reading "Trusts: The importance of judicial discretion"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | November 2014 #144The Dove Trust (the trust) was established by a declaration of trust dated 16 June 1983 for such charitable purposes as the trustees should in their discretion from time to time think fit. It was subsequently registered as a charity.
In 2004 a website for charitable giving called www.charitygiving.co.uk (the website) was established for the purpose of facilitating members of the public to make donations to the trust for the benefit of other charities or good causes of their choice. Donations which were charitable could then be augmented by gift aid, which the trust would claim sub...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | December 2012 #125A Jersey fiduciary services provider known as the Lavy Hancox Group (the LH Group) was, during the 1990s, the forum for fraudulent activities by its beneficial owner, Mr Raymond Bellows (Bellows).
The plaintiff/appellant (a BVI company) was administered by the LH Group. They alleged that the LH Group, unlawfully and without authority, caused US$480,000 to be transferred to an account (the Midland account) held in the name of a subsidiary company, Lavy Hancox Management Ltd.
The defendant/respondent was also in receipt of the LH Group’s fiduciary services: Levy Hancox ...
