Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Spring 2024 #194The plaintiffs were three of the four children of the deceased, who died in 2015. They contended that the deceased lacked capacity when making wills in 2004. Instructions for the wills had been taken by the defendant, who had prepared them and supervised their execution. Had the wills not been made, the deceased’s estate would have passed to the plaintiffs and their sibling, subject to a life interest in realty for the deceased’s widow; the effect of the wills was to confer on the widow additional benefits. Following the death of the deceased, the plaintiffs and their sibling challenged ...
The Court of Appeal rules on whether the Quincecare duty can be excluded by a bank’s terms and conditions. Jolyon Connell and Oliver Blundell explain ‘Even for commercial clients, to be valid, any limitation or indemnity clause will need to be in clear and prominent language within the terms and conditions.’ Bank fraud is an …
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Rajkiran Barhey reports that in some circumstances the door may be open to claims by children against local authorities if they fail to protect them from third parties ‘The claimants argued that, in purporting to investigate the risk that the neighbours posed and in attempting to monitor the claimants’ situation, the council assumed responsibility for …
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In part one of a two-part analysis of claims against the police, John-Paul Swoboda examines the decision in Robinson and whether the police are exempt from negligence claims ‘Lord Reed and the other Supreme Court justices recognised that not too high a standard ought to be imposed on the police, but those observations did not …
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Jonathan Holsgrove reports on the duty of care owed to schoolchildren after a recent case ‘A measure of discretion is needed and provided to teachers who are best placed to know the school, the environment and the pupils in their care. In those circumstances the court should be slow to substitute its own judgement and …
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In the first of a two-part analysis, Robert Hams, Lord Edward Faulks QC and Paul Stagg summarise the background to the Court of Appeal decision in CN v Poole Borough Council and the line of relevant authorities on negligence ‘It was argued that a line of authorities demonstrated that it was well established that vulnerable …
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Patrick West explores a recent Supreme Court case on police liability ‘Is there a general rule that police are not under any duty of care when discharging their function of investigating and preventing crime?‘ Everyone who has passed through law school will remember the case about the snail in the ginger beer. Poor old Mrs …
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | September 2016 #162The deceased (J) died on 2 June 2012, a widow with no children or close relatives. On 8 November 2011 J executed a will (the will) drafted by a solicitor (W). She made a number of pecuniary legacies including legacies of £54,000 each in favour of the claimants.
An employee of the defendant, (S), had been J’s financial advisor since 2000. In 2011, prior to executing the will and acting on S’ advice, J formed two trusts in the claimants’ favour to mitigate inheritance tax payable on her death. One was a discretionary trust naming the claimants sole discretionary b...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | January/February 2016 #156The claimants had been customers of the defendant bank since 2000. Following the sale of their business in September 2006 for £5m, their bank manager arranged an introduction to the defendant’s Mayfair banking service, which was the division providing banking services to ultra-high-net-worth individuals for the purpose of receiving advice regarding the investment of the proceeds. The defendant sought information about the claimants’ financial circumstances and asked a series of questions designed to identify their appetite and capacity for risk. The defendant then produced a ...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | October 2014 #143Mr John Bayley settled property on trust on 17 November 1983. He died in 1987. The trust was established with the assistance of the settlor’s longstanding business associate and friend, Mr Derek Gray, who provided various services to the trust through the first defendant, SG Associates (SGA), a company of which he was a director. From 1998, Mr Gray was also director of a US company known as Clean Diesel Technologies (CDT), which developed, designed, marketed and licensed technologies and solutions for the reduction of emissions from combustion engines. He was also a director of SGA...
