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Recent case law has clarified when the court considers an executor can be removed due to the breakdown of the relationship with the beneficiaries. Laura Abbott explains Executors have a duty to administer the estate in accordance with law and in a timely manner, and to act in the best interests of the beneficiaries, not …
Continue reading "Executors: More than friction"
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Robert Lindley and Wesley O’Brien provide a step-by-step guide to dealing with missing or uncooperative beneficiaries It will be important for the trustee to be capable of demonstrating that it has made sufficient reasonable efforts to find and/or contact the relevant person. Trusts exist for the benefit of their beneficiaries and it is to beneficiaries …
Continue reading "Trusts: Making well-documented inquiries"
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Lessons can be learned about trial conduct when litigants appear in person and more in Lonsdale v Teasdale. Elis Gomer elucidates While showing a ‘real doubt’ as to capacity is not a trivial requirement in evidential terms, once that has been done, the burden will be on the party seeking to propound the will to …
Continue reading "Probate: In at the deep end"
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Paul Lewis and Stephen Alexander discuss protecting the office of protector When deciding whether to exercise a power to appoint a protector, trustees must take into account all relevant considerations and exclude from their reckoning all irrelevant considerations, even when a trust instrument ostensibly gives them carte blanche. Trust settlements may confer powers exercisable by …
Continue reading "Offshore: The Manx court takes a stand"
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Oliver Auld reviews the scope of the Jersey courts to set aside a voluntary disposition or other transaction on the grounds of mistake While the court accepted that Art 47G gave it a flexible decision-making power to determine the extent to which a voidable exercise of power has effect, the court was not persuaded that …
Continue reading "Mistake: Forgiven, but not rewritten"
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Geoffrey Shindler looks beyond these shores for a possible vision of IHT reform At the moment the IHT position in the UK is strange and illogical and encourages avoidance or rather encourages evasion. We British are a very insular lot – pun intended. We live on an island which makes us an insular people and …
Continue reading "Musings from Manchester: Candidate for change"
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The court has provided welcome clarity on applications to court for authority to sell a property abroad on behalf of a minor. Remi Aiyela explains The judge decided that it was plainly in Ilyas’ best interests that the property be sold at a good sale price higher than the current valuation. Re Shanavazi [2021] was …
Continue reading "Probate: A far from minor inconvenience"
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Ramandip Kaur and Jo Summers provide a review of the OTS’s second report on CGT The OTS is recommending that a Single Customer Account for all taxpayers, which is easily accessible and secure, should be a key component of the government’s vision, particularly for CGT. The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) is the independent adviser …
Continue reading "Tax: The future of CGT?"
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Elizabeth Houghton examines implied revocation of deeds of appointment Those drafting wills should be cautious about including general ‘sweeper’ wording unless there is a good reason to. In the recent case of Equiom (Isle of Man) Ltd v Velarde [2021] it was held that a wide power of appointment contained in a will had the …
Continue reading "Powers of appointment: All in the wording"
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An internal dispute at a religious charity led to High Court clarification on the extent to which members of a charity are fiduciaries. Philip Reed explores the implications Jaffer represents a step towards greater certainty in respect of members’ duties outside charities established as Companies Act companies. Readers will doubtless be familiar with the Supreme …
Continue reading "Charities: When should the court intervene?"
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