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Proprietary estoppel: Reap what you sow?

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 …
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French succession law: Ça n’finira jamais

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 …
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Musings from Manchester: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Geoffrey Shindler has some suggestions for the governance of HMRC and the process by which tax legislation is imposed ‘We need to go back to the very first principles and challenge why we need to have so much tax legislation every year.’ There are times when I wonder not only whether there is any joined-up …
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Trusts: Enforcing private purpose trusts

Mark Pawlowski and James Brown examine the possibility of using the mechanism of a residuary legatee in order to enforce a trust for non-charitable purposes ‘If there are no beneficiaries with equitable interests in the trust assets, there is technically no one “in whose favour the court can decree specific performance”.’ As trust lawyers will …
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Trustees’ powers: Beyond the deed

Mary Ashley explores a recent case considering the options by which trustees can extend their powers ‘In circumstances where trustees want to act outside of the powers which they expressly have, they will want to analyse closely what it is that they are seeking to do and therefore, the best way to do it – …
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Proprietary estoppel: Where there’s muck there’s brass

In the first part of two articles Amanda Noyce discusses a series of recent proprietary estoppel claims concerning farms ‘There are six recently reported cases involving the concept of proprietary estoppel, where the principles emphasised (although not established) in Thorner have been honed.’ Proprietary estoppel appeals to those of us involved in Chancery work – …
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1975 Act claims: Accommodating need

Mark Blackett-Ord reports on an unusually successful award for adult children under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 ‘If the first instance judge concluded that the amount that he was provisionally awarding to each claimant was not excessive for that claimant’s maintenance, and that it was all the estate could afford, then …
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Wills: A question of construction

Justin Holmes suggests a modern take on decided cases is needed to reflect the intentions of the 21st century testator ‘The 21st century problem which arose for the trustees was that, on the face of the will, the gifts to Enid and Victoria in clause 5 might both have failed, and in that event there …
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Constructive trusts: Keeping up with the Jones

Naveed Ali outlines the development of the constructive trust principle to aid cohabitees ‘The court should establish the intentions of the parties with evidence; where intention cannot be inferred, the court may impute an intention which the parties may never have founded.’ The regulation of proprietary rights after a breakdown of marriage is extensive: the …
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Book review: Shining a light into murky corners

Elaine Roche reviews Gill Steel’s book on the residence nil-rate band Residence Nil Rate Band: Practical Thoughts on its Use and Application Gill Steel ISBN13: 9780244693756 July 2018, published by LawSkills Ltd £48.00 In April 2017, the residence nil-rate band (RNRB) came into effect, some ten years after the Conservative Party first announced that they …
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