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Certain new tax proposals hark back to 1970s ideology. Geoffrey Shindler separates the good from the bad ‘What was mooted in the 1970s, and has now been revived by the Resolution Foundation, is whether instead of being a tax on estates, ie a tax on the donor or the testator, death tax ought to be …
Continue reading "Musings from Manchester: Plus ça change"
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William Ahern urges practitioners to oppose the CRS Mandatory Disclosure Rules while there is still time ‘The Mandatory Disclosure Rules (MDRs) potentially require those of us who advise clients on CRS issues to report our clients and everyone in the relevant structure chain to their local tax departments.’ Many of you (of a certain age) …
Continue reading "Common reporting standard: Coming to the boil"
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Mark Pawlowski considers a recent decision on the enforceability of pre-nuptial agreements ‘It was essential that both parties should have entered into the agreement of their own free will without undue influence, fraud or misrepresentation, and with a full appreciation of its implications.’ The recent Court of Appeal decision in Versteegh v Versteegh [2018] has …
Continue reading "Pre-nups and private client: Take note"
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The EU’s 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive places further obligations on private client practitioners. David Dorgan explains ‘5AMLD will amend the position so each member state must ensure compulsory disclosure (public access) of a limited set of information on beneficial owners of firms and other legal entities engaging in profit-making activities.’ The European Parliament on 19 …
Continue reading "Anti-money laundering: Register interest"
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Joss Knight examines a claim for a common intention constructive trust where a cohabitee has passed away ‘The administrators found themselves defending proceedings on behalf of the estate and attempting to deny the existence of a conversation to which they were not, on anyone’s case, a party.’ Claims for a declaration that property is held …
Continue reading "Constructive trusts: Gone, but not forgotten"
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Alessia Paoletto reports on two recent cases which put European succession requirements into context ‘The Regulation must be interpreted as precluding refusal to recognise the material effects of a legacy by vindication provided for in the law applicable to the succession, where such refusal is based on the fact that the legacy created a right …
Continue reading "EU succession law: An objective view"
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James Ferguson, Katie Male and Mark Lindley discuss a recent case that demonstrates the growing role of pre-nuptial contracts in estate planning ‘As a general rule the provision for the spouse in the will should be at least as generous as in the pre-nuptial agreement (PNA), if not more so, to minimise exposure to a …
Continue reading "Estate planning: The importance of autonomy"
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Geoffrey Shindler urges practitioners to express themselves ‘The cost of valuations, if indeed valuations should be required in this type of estate, is, I suggest, out of all proportion to the requirement of obtaining probate when no IHT is payable.’ Your country needs you! At this moment in our momentous history we must all rise …
Continue reading "Musings from Manchester: The quest to simplify the practice of IHT"
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Sheila Rusike and Jo Summers examine worldwide precedents for accepting unconventional wills ‘The fact that the text message was unsent only demonstrated that the deceased wanted it to be found after his death and not before, further supporting the argument that he wanted it to express his final wishes.’ The Law Commission’s recent consultation paper, …
Continue reading "Wills: Can an unsent text message be a valid will?"
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Tim Harrison analyses recent research into the workings of IHT and examines the future agenda for reform ‘Testators and beneficiaries had quite a limited understanding of inheritance tax. Most were aware of the basic principles of the tax but few knew the details of either the threshold or the spouse exemption.’ On 4 July 2015 …
Continue reading "IHT: Simplification is not a simple process"
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