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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 examines whether the current system does justice for children excluded from a parent’s will ‘The one thing that seems to be certain in English law is that this issue remains an important but entirely uncertain area.’ As Leo Tolstoy reminded us, in Anna Karenina, ‘All happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy …
Continue reading "Musings from Manchester: Unhappy families"
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William East reviews two recent cases on out-of-time 1975 Act claims with different outcomes ‘The decision that “excusable delay” should be for “weeks or, at most, months”, absent “highly exceptional factors”, begs the question of what those factors might be and whether this sets the bar too high given the shortness of the initial time …
Continue reading "The 1975 Act: The clock is ticking… or is it?"
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Scott Taylor and Oliver Black investigate the factors that will be taken into account when establishing domicile ‘The concepts of “residence” and “intention” are key in considering whether one has adopted (or abandoned) a domicile of choice.’ The High Court recently tried a preliminary issue in the case of Proles v Kohli [2018] as to …
Continue reading "Domicile: Should I stay or should I go?"
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Justin Holmes reports on a case concerning the making of a deathbed statutory settlement to avoid the intestacy rules ‘CF had never been able to express any wishes, feelings, beliefs or values about what should happen to his estate after his death, and the judge had to do his best to put himself into CF’s …
Continue reading "Court of Protection: Standing in the donor’s shoes"
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A recent case provides helpful guidance on the financial consequences of assisting suicide. Alexa Payet explains ‘The steps which Alex took prior to his death, in an attempt to support Sarah in this process after he was gone, were crucial to the success of the application and assisted the court in reaching a decision at …
Continue reading "Forfeiture: What relief?"
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Fiona Lawrence and Julia Hardy explore what it will take for a court to allow a very late amendment to a will challenge claim ‘It is clear from the various authorities that each case turns on its own facts, and that best practice in assessing the merits of each application is to attempt to conduct …
Continue reading "Contested wills: Late for a very important date"
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Oliver Auld gives the lowdown on what happens to trusts in the event of a divorce ‘Trustees need to be aware of not only the range of orders the family courts can make in relation to trust assets, but also the strategies they should potentially be adopting in the best interest of their beneficiaries, both …
Continue reading "Divorce: A matter of trust"
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In the second part of two articles Amanda Noyce continues to review recent proprietary estoppel cases, as well as outlining the lessons to be learned ‘Few High Court judges would want to divert openly from the case of Thorner, but my thesis is that the later cases have refined the law and an attempt needs …
Continue reading "Proprietary estoppel: Reap what you sow?"
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The dispute over Johnny Hallyday’s estate is an example of the problems that can arise with international estates. Patrick Delas discusses ‘If Johnny died habitually resident in France or was at least manifestly more closely connected with France, as David and Laura claim, French courts should regard themselves as having jurisdiction in relation to the …
Continue reading "French succession law: Ça n’finira jamais"
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