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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Jurisdiction: Tug of war

Tchenguiz-Imerman v Imerman [2013] highlights the tensions between courts of different jurisdiction, despite the principle of comity. Richard Tambling reports ‘The judge accepted that the interests of comity have a powerful place in cases involving offshore trusts when the English courts will often depend on the trusts’ home courts for assistance.’ This article considers what …
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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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International Focus: Close comparison

In the conclusion to a two-part analysis Hannah Minty and Sally Nash compare the differences in practice between financial provision in England and Wales and in Scotland ‘In Scotland, inherited assets are specifically excluded from the definition of matrimonial property, and therefore are not taken into account in determining entitlement to financial provision.’ Part one …
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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 And Divorce: Access all areas?

Whaley v Whaley poses the question of when a trust fund is a ‘resource’ in divorce proceedings, as Emily Exton explains The divorce case of Whaley v Whaley [2011] is a stark example of the application of well-established principles in the family courts concerning the treatment of a trust fund as a resource to which …
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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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