November 2011 #131 – Law Journals

Guest Editorial: Love and marriage

Sofie Hoffman assesses the current state of play with trusts and divorce ‘The judge decided that the wealth of the couple was not the product of their endeavours; the husband’s inherited wealth was non-matrimonial and so the sharing principle should not apply.’According to the latest statistics for marriage and divorce in England and Wales (2009 …

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Mistake: Leviathan can look after itself

Zoë Sive discusses the divergent approach of the Jersey courts in the recent case of Re R [2011] ‘The Jersey decision highlights the extent to which the English and Jersey positions have been affected by the different judicial and jurisdictional attitudes and policies in relation to tax authorities.’ The recent judgment of the Royal Court …

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Employee Benefit Trusts: 18/11 overture

Deborah Clark and Matthew Short give an update on HMRC’s stance on tax and employee benefit trusts ‘In an attempt to avoid the delaying effect of the CTA 2009 provisions, family benefit trusts have been created that specifically exclude employees but include their families.’This article comments on HMRC’s Brief 18/11, which gives its views on …

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Wills: Helping hand

Barrett v Bem sets an unusual precedent as Emily Exton explains ‘There was, in Vos J’s view, no question that Mr Lavin had wanted to make a will and had wanted Mrs Liston to inherit.’After a seven-year legal battle the will of Martin Lavin has recently been upheld by the court, in Barrett v Bem …

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Pensions: An uneasy pairing

Rhys Thomas clarifies the link between payments from pension funds and IHT ‘While useful, the QNUPS regulations may encourage the use of offshore pension schemes as IHT avoidance rather than retirement planning vehicles as many QNUPS, unlike RPS, will be beyond the scope of the lifetime allowance (LA) and annual allowance (AA).’IHT and pension schemes …

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Probate: Executors beware

Grant Crawford analyses Shovelar v Lane, which provides a salutary lesson for executors confronted with hostile proceedings ‘The fact that a party will be financially worse off by accepting a Part 36 offer cannot mean that it would be unjust to apply the penalties set out in that rule; it will almost invariably be the …

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Divorce And Trusts: Rhubarb preserve

Juliet Mayhew considers whether D v D is a template for maintaining the family farm on divorce ‘The court has recognised the different nature of farming assets and the fact that a farm is unlikely to survive an equal division between husband and wife.’There is an area of West Yorkshire, between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell …

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Tax Planning: Keeping it in the family

Deborah Clark provides an update on family investment companies ‘The ability to accumulate dividend income tax free and other profits at lower tax rates means that over a 20-year period, especially where the FIC has pursued a strategy of investing for income, a FIC can outperform other investment vehicles such as investment bonds, a private …

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