December 2015 #172 – Law Journals

Deathbed Gifts: At a crossroads

Adam Carvalho and Alice Kendle explore the slippery and amphibious doctrine of donatio mortis causa ‘Unless the donor revokes the gift before death, when the donor dies their personal representative holds the property on trust for the donee.’ The case of King v The Chiltern Dog Rescue [2015] (King) has clarified – and restricted – …

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Trust Disputes: Shock and ore

Matthew Howson outlines the lessons from Australian case Hancock v Rinehart [2015], which considered fraud on a power and replacement of a trustee ‘The court felt that Bianca was more likely than a professional trustee to act in the best interests of the beneficiaries, and in particular more likely to resist Mrs Rinehart.’ Gina Rinehart …

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Musings From Manchester: Dual control

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Geoffrey Shindler makes a plea for joined-up thinking between HMRC and the government ‘So what is going here? The nanny state on the one hand (auto enrolment) or Liberty Hall (freedom and choice with the release of pension capital)?’It is very easy to criticise HM Government and HMRC. It will be water off the back …

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Inheritance Tax: Less tax is more complexity

Mary Ashley takes a look at proposals for the residence nil-rate band ‘The RNRB and the downsizing provisions are a positive change insofar as they reduce taxpayers’ liability; however, it adds an additional unnecessary layer of complexity to the tax system, which will add higher compliance costs, increasing the impact on both the individual and …

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Estate Planning: A penny saved

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John Bunker examines ISAs, in particular whether they are transferable to spouses and what this means for estate planning ‘Lawyers need to be clear who their client is, and the duty owed to that client; and to take care if any potential conflict arises for example; between a surviving spouse and the executors or trustees …

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Charities: Going to pot?

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Charles King-Farlow considers the curious decision in Young v AG [2012], which had consequences for the Wedgwood Museum, in the first part of two articles ‘There was no trust or other rule of law enabling the court to intervene; but was this a matter of general trust law which would apply to all similar companies? …

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Joint Tenancies: Presumed missing

Sarah Playforth discusses Chadda v HMRC, which shed light on the level of evidence needed to show that there has been a severance ‘Mr Chadda’s evidence was that Mr Tobin had signed it first. The court said that this simply did not matter. There is no requirement under s36 for the notice to be signed …

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