Third Parties: Crossing the line

Lehna Hewitt reviews the courts’ approach to cases where an order may be made on the basis of assets owned by a third party ‘There will be occasions when it becomes permissible for a judge deliberately to frame his orders in a form which affords judicious encouragement to third parties.’ The recent Court of Appeal …
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P v P [2015] EWCA Civ 447

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | July/August 2015 #151

A husband and wife met in 1999 and married in 2003. They had one child together, of primary school age at the time of the proceedings. In 2005 the husband and wife moved into a farmhouse owned by the husband’s parents. In 2009 the husband’s parents settled the farmhouse on a discretionary trust for the benefit of their children and remoter descendants. Subject to the power to appoint the capital and income to the discretionary beneficiaries, the farmhouse was held on trust to pay the income to the husband for life, and it was declared that the making of any land comprised within the trus...

Trusts: Available assets

Charlotte Conner outlines the challenges when dealing with cases involving trusts ‘This is an area fraught with difficulty as the court is being asked to deal with assets which are not legally owned by either party to the proceedings.’ The recent Court of Appeal decision in P v P [2015] brings into focus key issues …
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Nuptial Settlements: Break it up

Antonia Barker outlines P v P, which sheds light on the circumstances in which a trust will be considered a nuptial settlement ‘Practitioners should be aware that even where the ultimate trust is not a nuptial settlement, any individual settlement of an asset into that trust, or even the right to occupy a trust property, …
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Quan v Bray & ors [2014] EWHC 3340 (Fam)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | June 2015 #150

In 2000 Li Quan (the wife) created a charity called Save China’s Tigers. In 2002 her husband Stuart Bray (the husband) established a fully discretionary trust in Mauritius called the Chinese Tigers South Africa Trust (CTSAT) – the sole beneficiary of which was the charity.

In July 2012 the wife was removed as a director of the charity and in August 2012 she filed for divorce and made no mention of the trust. On 17 July 2013 she filed an application by way of amendment to her form A seeking a variation of the post nuptial settlement. The core of her case being that CTSAT was ...

International Families: Proceed with caution

Zoe Bloom and Hed Amitai examine potential pitfalls for international families and protective measures including nuptial agreements ‘To start divorce proceedings in England and Wales it is only necessary to show habitual residence here. This means that couples moving to England […] are fully exposed to family law in this jurisdiction.’ International mobility is now …
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Tchenguiz-Imerman v Imerman [2013] EWHC 3627

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | January/February 2014 #136

Beneficiaries of a number of offshore discretionary trusts were joined as parties on their application to contested financial remedy proceedings. The court had made an order that these beneficiaries should disclose copies of documents provided to them for the purposes of an application that had been made to the Royal Court of Jersey (RCtJ) by the trustee of some of those trusts. The RCtJ had given the beneficiaries permission to make such disclosure if they were ordered to do so but expressed concerns about and invited the court not to require such disclosure [2012] (2) JLR 51.

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Financial Provision: Interim measures

Ellie Foster and Pippa Hayden highlight the impact of third-party resources on maintenance pending suit The court had to understand the extent of financial support provided to the husband by his family and also to examine the extent to which payments had been made historically to the wife by, or via, that source. The recent …
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BJ v MJ [2011] EWHC 2708 (Fam)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | 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, ...

Trusts: Every penny counts

James Lister and Sean Hilton summarise the approach to trust assets in family proceedings Case law demonstrates the need for absolute clarity from the outset, the nuanced nature of cases involving trust assets and the enhanced duties of the lawyers involved to give judges proper guidance so as to avoid unsafe decisions. It has always …
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