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Emma Cooper explores how to set up dividend policies for companies wholly owned by trustees of a life interest trust ‘Trustees who hold the entire issued share capital of a company, or who otherwise control it, are in a very different position from investors with minority holdings, as they have the power to decide the …
Continue reading "Interest-in-possession trusts: A balancing act"
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The Jersey Royal Court’s recent refusal to ‘bless’ actions by the trustee shows that court approval cannot be taken for granted. James Sheedy sets out key points to consider ‘The trustee’s application for a blessing of its decision to liquidate the structure was refused on the basis (among others) that the trustee had not adequately …
Continue reading "Offshore: Count your blessings"
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Stephen Lawson evaluates the case for formal supported will-making ‘What a will preparer should not do is simply answer a tick box “does the testator have capacity yes/no” – a question that is all too often seen in will preparation files.’ There is currently much debate about the introduction of a formal supported will-making scheme …
Continue reading "Wills: The times they are a-changin’"
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James McKean examines a recent addition to the growing body of case law on undue influence and the elderly testator ‘This judgment serves as a reminder that allegations of undue influence, fraud and sham can be dealt with summarily if they, or if the defence thereto, have no real prospect of success.’ The case of …
Continue reading "Undue influence: Behind the social façade of dementia"
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Robert Pearce QC discusses how the courts treat privacy in trust litigation in our information age ‘In trust litigation, the causes of action are unlikely to have anything to do with privacy, and the parties’ concerns about privacy are likely to centre on the possibility of the media reporting proceedings heard in public, to which …
Continue reading "Trust litigation: Data control"
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Jelena Serbic and Paul Ridout review the results of the Charity Commission’s inquiry into the Cup Trust ‘The Commission’s final report provides a fairly comprehensive account of the extent to which the law relating to charitable status meant that it simply did not have the options of refusing to register the Cup Trust or of …
Continue reading "Charity commission: A question of trust"
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Jamie Randall examines a case of an aristocratic family estrangement and an adult claim under the 1975 Act ‘Although the starting point is testamentary freedom, there is no escaping that the purpose of the Act is to give effect to some sort of moral obligation to provide for surviving family members and dependants.’ In Wellesley …
Continue reading "The 1975 Act: Drink, drugs and bohemia"
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Michael Fletcher, David Whittington and Clifford Woodroffe outline the implications of the reverter for charity trustees ‘Reverter occurs when the property ceases to be used for such of the purposes of the relevant Act of Parliament as are specified in the trust deed. Once it has occurred, it is irreversible.’ A potential trap for the …
Continue reading "Charities: Beware the reverter"
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HMRC enquiries and assessments into domicile can be costly and time-consuming for the taxpayer. Dominic Lawrance and Hugh Gunson report on how to deal with them ‘The last few years have seen a major change of stance. The number of domicile enquiries has risen dramatically, as has the amount of HMRC attention devoted to them.’ …
Continue reading "Domicile: A long-running domestic saga"
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Geoffrey Shindler has some questions of his own for the compliance professionals ‘Creating an industry that is self-perpetuating and expensive for everybody and does not lead to any appropriate result needs to be stopped.’ What, if anything, do compliance officers and parking meter attendants have in common? Not much at first thought, but in fact …
Continue reading "Musings from Manchester: Burst the compliance bubble"
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