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Musings From Manchester: Avoiding the chaos of intestacy

Geoffrey Shindler argues that it should be a legal requirement to make a will ‘We all know of the difficulties that can arise when one party to an unmarried couple dies without making a will.’We like to think that we live in a ‘free society’. I think what we mean by this is that we …
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Trust Management: Extra time and possible penalties?

The current state of play with HMRC v Murray Group Holdings has lessons for lax trustees. Catharine Bell and Nicole Aubin-Parvu provide an update ‘HMRC argued that where an employee was given practical access to or control of monies it mattered not that he did not have absolute legal title to them.’The unsuccessful appeal by …
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Charity Law: Staying out of it

Mark Herbert QC discusses the implications of Shergill v Khaira ‘The court will still not adjudicate on the truth or validity of religious beliefs, but it must not shy away from deciding on their existence where that is necessary in order to determine legal issues which are themselves justiciable.’ In Shergill v Khaira the Supreme …
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Musings From Manchester: Back foot contract

A glance at the news reveals a lack of joined-up thinking in HMRC and other government agencies, finds Geoffrey Shindler ‘If I owe my bank £1,000 I have a problem but if I owe the bank £1m then they have a problem because they are unlikely to recover it. It would appear to be the …
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Inheritance And Trustees: Moving with the times

Mark Keenan and Bethan Byrne examine changes to family provision claims ‘The s3 criteria effectively amount to a “balancing exercise” which the court must undertake to weigh up the competing factors in considering whether reasonable financial provision has been made for a claimant.’ The Law Commission project ‘Intestacy and Family Provision Claims on Death’ began …
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Small Business, Enterprise And Employment Bill: Who pulls the strings?

Dominic Ribet explains how the proposed UK registry of corporate beneficial ownership will work ‘Shares or rights held by a nominee for another will, for the purposes of the new rules, be treated as being held by the other if they are exercisable only on the other’s instructions or with the other’s consent.’ At the …
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US Reporting Requirements: The long arm of US tax law

Joshua Rubenstein and Shelly Meerovitch give an introduction to FATCA reporting for offshore trusts and holding companies ‘Unless a foreign financial institution becomes FATCA compliant, withholdable payments made to it, for any account, will be subject to 30% withholding.’For the past four years, many, if not most, international investors and private client advisers have heard …
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Short-Term Trusts: Time trials

Simrun Seehra looks at recent case law on rectification of a deed of variation ‘It is not always clear whether a variation results in property being held in trust for a period ending not more than two years after the death and drafting errors have been made which mistakenly define the length of a discretionary …
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Charity Law Update: Responsible giving

Peter Steer and Sarah Clune review recent developments in third sector law ‘Prudence is perhaps a rather old fashioned virtue, but it should make trustees stop and think whether what they have cleverly structured or who they are involved with is really in the best interests of the charity, or themselves.’ This article is a …
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Wills: Lost and found

Stuart Adams discusses the correct procedure for the safe custody and registration of wills ‘When a solicitor takes a will into safe custody they are required to make arrangements to ensure that it is securely stored until such time as it shall be needed.’ It is often said that a will is one of the …
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