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Sheila Rusike and Jo Summers outline some interesting trust practice points gleaned from their recent experience for the benefit of other practitioners It is worth checking exactly how the trustees’ names appear on the Land Registry records to make sure any deeds you create (such as a deed of retirement and appointment) match. Trust and …
Continue reading "Practice spotlight: Can you trust your instincts?"
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James Sheedy reviews what the trustee needs to know about impact investing A possible solution in answer to the desire of beneficiaries to ‘do good’ with trust funds is for trustees to appoint assets out to beneficiaries for them to then apply them as they deem appropriate. In the last few years, there has been …
Continue reading "Trustees: Call of duty?"
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What is the best approach to training future trust and estate practitioners? Geoffrey Shindler draws on the past to learn lessons for the future Despite the numerous attempts, or proposals, put forward to resolve the issue there is never one agreed solution and certainly not one agreed for anything more than a very short period …
Continue reading "Musings from Manchester: The new generation"
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Denzil Lush sheds light on the origins of local authority involvement in mental incapacity proceedings Commissioner Murray was wrong in believing that Cohen’s was the first case of its kind. An almost identical petition had been filed 30 years earlier in 1811, in the matter of Ann Pettman. The primary purpose of this article is …
Continue reading "Mental capacity: A history of local authority interventions"
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Timothy Sherwin looks at the rights of beneficiaries to an account Blades and Boothman suggest that the courts will be willing to permit derivative claims to advance in appropriate circumstances even where they have not been formally designated as derivative claims. A beneficiary has a right to an inventory and account from her executor. That …
Continue reading "Beneficiaries: A practical approach"
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Kevin Kennedy and Justine Reid analyse a case that outlines the steps taken for interpreting a will as well as the scope of the Administration of Justice Act 1982 The issue for the court was whether a solicitor copying and pasting a clause from a precedent bank that did not reflect the testator’s intention, and …
Continue reading "Will construction: What constitutes a clerical error?"
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Katie Alsop explores the latest developments in proprietary estoppel Despite the benefit which had been conferred upon them by virtue of the transfer of the farmhouse, that did not discharge the detriment associated with the promises and assurances made to Simon and Alison. The doctrine of proprietary estoppel is fast becoming known as the gift …
Continue reading "Farming disputes: The three ‘P’s – partnerships, proprietorships and proprietary estoppel"
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Oliver Auld and Lydia Kember examine the inherent unreliability of witness testimony based on memory Solicitors will now be under a personal obligation to avoid producing witness statements that are over-lawyered or in any way present a narrative which does not match the witness’s own recollection. There is an inherent difficulty that many challenges to …
Continue reading "Wills: Documentary evidence trumps witness testimony"
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Wilson v Spence is a useful reminder of the evidential burden on a party propounding a will. Dilan Deeljur discusses Practitioners (on either side, whether propounder or examiner of a will) should not simply take a will at face value and assume valid execution. In Wilson v Spence [2022] the claimants sought to propound a …
Continue reading "Valid execution: A will, but no way"
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Toby Bishop describes when a reverse summary judgment in a probate claim may be necessary The Deputy Master concluded the allegations made against Ms Fuirer were so fanciful that they should never have been made. Because of the inquisitorial role of the court and the factual matrix surrounding the preparation and execution of wills, it …
Continue reading "Probate: An unusual occurrence"
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