Chadwick v Collinson & ors [2014] EWHC 3055 (Ch)

January/February 2015 #146

Lisa Jane Clay (the deceased) and the claimant lived together from about 2003. They had a child together named Joseph, who was six years old in April 2013. From January 2013, they lived at the property at 36 Lowlands Road, Lancashire (the property) which the claimant and the deceased held as joint tenants. The deceased made a will on 18 August 2008 under which the claimant was the sole residuary beneficiary. The net value of the estate was £79,098.87 of which £60,000 comprised the deceased’s interest in the property. The couple’s relationship was at all times entirely stable,...

Randall v Randall [2014] EWHC 3134 (Ch)

January/February 2015 #146

The claimant and defendant, who were divorced, had disposed of their claims for financial provision in their divorce proceedings by a consent order which included the provision that, in the event that the defendant received any property and/or monies from her mother by way of inter vivos gifts and/or inheritance, the defendant would retain the first £100,000 of the sum of any such gifts and/or inheritance and the balance would be divided equally between the defendant and the claimant.

The defendant’s mother died. The deceased’s estate was valued at approximately £250,000, giving t...

V v T & anr [2014] EWHC 3432 (Ch)

January/February 2015 #146

The claimant was the settlor of three trusts and applied, under the Variation of Trusts Act 1958, for approval of similar arrangements for the benefit of minor beneficiaries under the trust and for future, yet unborn, beneficiaries under the trust.

The principal defendants were the trustees, the adult beneficiaries (who consented to the proposed arrangements) and the minor beneficiaries, acting through their litigation friend.

Before the hearing the parties had contact Chancery Listing and obtained agreement that the cases would be listed for hearing with initials ...

Gordon v Legister [2014] EWHC 2041 (Ch)

December 2014 #145

The claimant (Arlene) applied for reasonable financial provision from the estate of Alonzo Legister (the deceased) as someone maintained by the deceased immediately before his death under s1(1)(e) of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) 1975 (the 1975 Act). The claim was contested by the defendant, who was the administrator of the estate and one of the residuary beneficiaries on Alonzo’s intestacy. It was Arlene’s case that she was cohabiting with the deceased prior to his death. However, it was accepted that even on her case she wa...

Routier & anr v HMRC Neutral citation: [2014] EWHC 3010 (Ch)

December 2014 #145

This was an appeal from notices of determination by HMRC which held that dispositions in the will of Beryl Coulter (the deceased) did not fall within s23 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984, and were therefore not exempt from inheritance tax. The deceased died on 9 October 2007 domiciled in Jersey. Her final will was dated 1 October 2004 and probate was granted in the probate division of the Royal Court of Jersey on 25 October 2007. The will made several legacies totalling £210,000 and the residue passed to her executors to be held on the terms of the Coulter Trust for the purpose of the pro...

Tadros & anr v Barratt & ors [2014] EWHC 2860 (Ch)

December 2014 #145

Wedad Tadros (the deceased), a Dutch national, died on 26 October 2006 leaving a number of wills in several jurisdictions. The wills forming the basis of these proceedings were an English will dated 13 September 2010 but purportedly signed on 14 May 2011, and a Dutch will dated 27 May 2011 which created a foundation to benefit orphans (the foundation). The foundation was formally set up on 6 November 2013 under Dutch law. Both wills were drafted as though the deceased’s husband were alive at the time, although he had died on 23 September 2010. There were concerns over the validity of the...

Watts v Watts Claim no: HC02C02559

December 2014 #145

The claimant Arthur Watts (Arthur) sued his brother James Watts (James) in respect of trust transactions in 1998.

In 1967 Geoffrey Watts, the father of Arthur and James, made a settlement in favour of his children and grandchildren. In 1976 this trust fund was split into separate trust funds for each of Geoffrey’s children. James was one of the trustees of Arthur’s trust fund. The main beneficiaries were Arthur in his lifetime and thereafter his legitimate children. Clause 4 allowed the trustees to pay all the capital to Arthur if they considered it to be to his advantage...

The Charity Commission for England and Wales v Framjee & ors [2014] EWHC 2507 (Ch)

November 2014 #144

The 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...

Quaintance v Tandan [2012] EWHC 4416 (Ch)

November 2014 #144

Mr Quaintance (the defendant) appealed against the decision of HHJ Ellis granted on 24 May 2012. The original decision had been made in a contested application made by Miss Tandan (the claimant) under the Trusts of Land and Trustees Act 1996 for a determination of shares in a property (the property). The outcome of the decision was that the net proceeds of sale following the discharge of the mortgage currently being held by the mortgagee should all be paid to the claimant. Half of these had been paid to the claimant following the decision. The defendant appealed in respect of th...

Rawstron & anr (executrices of the estate of Lucian Freud) v Freud [2014] EWHC 2577 (Ch)

October 2014 #143

Lucian Freud (the deceased) achieved international recognition as an outstanding painter and draughtsman, and he acquired considerable wealth over the course of his long and successful life. His final will was dated 10 May 2006 (the 2006 will), superseding his previous will of 25 June 2004 (the 2004 will). Both wills were professionally drafted. His residuary estate, after payment of legacies and inheritance tax, was estimated at around £42m.

The claim was brought by the claimants under CPR Part 8 in their capacity as executrices of the deceased’s final will. The first cl...