October 2013 #150 – Law Journals

Usufructs: When is a settlement not a trust?

Marilyn McKeever examines the UK treatment of usufructs ‘In effect, a usufruct and bare ownership are equivalent to an interest in possession and absolute remainder and this is how HMRC will treat them.’ HMRC has confirmed its view of the inheritance tax status of a usufruct in its Trusts and Estates Newsletter for April 2013. …

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Private Client And Immigration: Not all plain sailing?

Alastair Collett and Tim Hayes discuss some of the perils at the intersection of the private client and immigration worlds, perils increased by stringent new rules ‘This evidential test is far more onerous and prescriptive than was previously the case and requires careful planning, which will need to take place well in advance of an …

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Testamentary Capacity: Satisfying Banks v Goodfellow

Simon v Byford demonstrates that the courts will not set aside lightly a will because the testator has failing cognitive faculties. Harriet Atkinson and Zahra Kanani analyse the case ‘The case highlights that for testamentary capacity to be present, the test in Banks v Goodfellow must be satisfied.’ There has been a sharp rise in …

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Musings From Manchester: Giving value for money?

Geoffrey Shindler discusses the current focus on business ethics and cultural attitudes and how these affect the private client relationship ‘I question the relevance to doing a functional job beyond doing that job efficiently, politely and above all correctly.’This year may – or then again may not – be remembered as the year of the …

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Divorce And Trusts: Trusting Prest

Prest emphasises that it is unfeasible for the Family Division to take a differing approach to other divisions when piercing the corporate veil. Suzanne Todd explains ‘The recent decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Prest has far-reaching effects, way beyond the boundaries of the Family Division.’ Most people are familiar with Jane …

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Trusts: Clamping down

Emma Jordan and Patricia Boon assess the impact of the US’s FATCA on trusts ‘The introduction of FATCA may be seen as part of the continued development towards achieving a “white list” standard of tax compliance internationally’.The US government published the final regulations under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in January. The following …

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Inheritance Act 1975 Claims: Counting the cost

The Court of Appeal case of Thomas v Jeffery reminds practitioners that even late disclosure does not fetter a judge’s discretion on costs. Laurie Scher reports ‘Thomas v Jeffery [2012] is now an important authority on the way that a trial judge should approach costs in Inheritance Act claims, and on the limited relevance of …

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Client Monies: Ascertaining the money trail

Laura John sets out the lessons to be learned from Challinor v Bellis on handling the client account ‘An escrow arrangement is dependant on an enforceable contract or undertaking not to treat the funds transferred by X as the property of Y unless and until the escrow event or condition is satisfied.’This article considers the …

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