The appellant was appointed a trustee of the Ellen Morris 1990 Settlement (settlement) by a deed of appointment and retirement of trustees dated 19 March 2003. Her co-trustees were her father, the defendant, and Browne Jacobson Trustees Ltd (BJTL). Previously, a decision had been taken to embark on a ‘round the world’ capital gains tax avoidance scheme in relation to the settlement. This involved appointing Mauritian trustees and realising offshore gains where there was no capital gains tax, distributing the proceeds and then appointing UK-resident trustees in the same tax year of assess...
CJF was a thirteen year old boy who suffered very serious neurological damage at birth. He was initially cared for by his mother, KJF, but she had also suffered complications as a result of CJF’s birth, so he ended up being cared for by a foster parent, LR under a Special Guardianship order. LR passed away in 2013, and the Special Guardianship order was transferred to LR’s daughter, EH, and her husband, AH. CJF’s father, BJF, had denied his paternity, was not named on his birth certificate, and had played no role in CJF’s life.
Before she died, LR brought a claim against the NHS T...
The claimant was the sole corporate trustee of a trust created by a deed of settlement dated 5 November 1963 and made by a settlor for the benefit of his four children and their respective spouses and descendants. The defendants were two of the settlor’s surviving children, the widows of two deceased children and descendants to the fourth generation. As a result of deeds of appointment made on 28 March 1979 and 31 December 1982, each of the settlor’s four children became entitled to a life interest in their respective one-quarter shares of the trust fund, with reversionary life interes...
Facts
DS and IS were at all material times resident in the UK for tax purposes and were beneficially entitled to the income from MOH, an English property development company of which they were the shareholders and directors. On advice, they used a tax avoidance scheme that took advantage of the provisions of the 1955 UK-Isle of Man double tax treaty (DTT). These provisions exempted the industrial or commercial profits of an Isle of Man (IOM) enterprise, which could include a partnership, from UK tax unless it was engaged in trade or business in the UK through a permanent establis...
By an Indenture dated 6 March 1925 (“Indenture”), Charles Harrison (“Settlor”) settled property on his only child, Jeannette Harrison (“Life Tenant”). By Clause 18(ii), the Life Tenant was given a testamentary power of appointment in the event of dying without issue in favour of nephews of nieces of the Settlor and/or their issue subject to a proviso that the Trust Fund or the shares thereof should be retained by the Trustees on such trusts and with and subject to such powers and provisions as would for the time being be applicable to a share appropriated by them to the object or objects...
Continue reading "Settlement: An air of finality"
The claimant and first defendant were husband and wife and joint freehold owners of a property in the UK where they lived. Up until March 2006 the claimant and first defendant were treated as domiciled in South Africa. However, from 6 April 2006 they would be treated as domiciled in the UK for inheritance tax purposes. In November 2005 the claimant took advice on mitigating the consequences of being treated as domiciled in the UK for the purposes of inheritance tax. He was advised that his position would be improved if he placed the property into an interest in possession settlement.
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Continue reading "Settlement: The beginning of the end"
The main action was a contentious probate dispute in which the defendant, who was the younger sister of the deceased, sought to overturn all of his five wills on the grounds of lack of testamentary capacity. The deceased had suffered from severe schizophrenia throughout his lifetime. The claimants were the residuary legatees of his final will, entitling them to the lion-share of the deceased’s considerable estate. In his main judgment, the judge accepted that the deceased’s condition was severe. He acknowledged that this placed the burden of proof on the claimants to establis...