The Royal National Lifeboat Institution & ors v Headley & anr [2016] EWHC 1948 (Ch)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | October 2016 #163

Evelyn Irene Farmer (the deceased) died on 12 January 1996 leaving a will dated 10 August 1993 (the will). The claimants were five of the ten charitable remaindermen under the trusts created under the will. They took absolutely upon the deaths of the deceased’s son and daughter in law. The deceased’s son was deceased but the daughter in law was still alive, and consequently the claimants’ interests were yet to fall into possession. The defendants were the executors of the deceased’s estate.

In 2007, the defendants wrote to the claimants enclosing an interim...

Trusts: Folly engaged

Mark Pawlowski discusses the case law on testamentary trusts for useless or capricious purposes ‘Unwarranted restrictions on the use of estate property, as opposed to their outright destruction, have been struck down on principles of wastefulness and harm to individuals or community.’The notion that a trust may fail because it serves no useful purpose or …
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Trusts: An extraordinary jurisdiction

Georgia Bedworth analyses a case which considers whether the English court can vary a foreign trust under the Variation of Trusts Act 1958 ‘The Variation of Trusts Act 1958 and Hague Trusts Convention apply wherever a trusts matter comes before the English court, even if the other country has not ratified the Convention.’Private client lawyers …
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HN v AN [2005] EWHC 2908 (Fam)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | June 2016 #160

HN (the wife) married AN (the husband) on 30 September 2001. In July 2000 they had chosen a property known as Brooklands Farm (Brooklands) to be their future matrimonial home; it had been purchased in July 2000 for £725,000 by a Bahamian company called WP Ltd, which was owned by a Guernsey trust called the F Trust.

The F Trust was created on behalf of AN’s grandparents by a trust deed dated 19 January 1989. In 1998 various beneficiaries had received distributions in satisfaction of their respective entitlements and from this date only AN remained a beneficiary. In July 2000...

In the matter of F Trust –

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | June 2016 #160

The applicants, three trustees of the F Trust and the A Settlement (the trusts), applied, pursuant to s47A of the Trustee Act 1975 and/or the inherent jurisdiction of the Court, to set aside deeds of appointment and retirement of trustees executed in 2005 and 2008, respectively, to the extent that they appointed the first defendant as a trustee.

The F Trust and the A Settlement were established in Bermuda with the same corporate trustee in 1958 and 1968 respectively. Individual trustees were subsequently appointed. The first defendant, a British resident, was app...

Barclay v Smith [2016] EWHC 210 (Ch)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | May 2016 #159

The claimants and first defendant were or had been trustees of a trust governed by a deed of trust. The trust assets had been transferred to the original trustees (the first to fourth claimants and the second defendant) upon their original appointment.

Under the deed of trust each trustee was appointed for a fixed five year period, after the expiry of which he was eligible for reappointment. The power of appointing new trustees was vested in the current trustees. However no regard had been paid to the clause in the trust deed requiring reappointment after five years and therefore ...

Davidson v Seelig [2016] EWHC 549 (Ch)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | May 2016 #159

Two settlements known as the Manny and Brigitta Davidson settlements were established by Manny and Brigitta Davidson in 1967 upon broad discretionary trusts, with UK resident trustees. Manny and Brigitta had two children, Maxine and Gerald, born in 1958 and 1961 respectively. The settlements were in identical terms. There was an 80 year perpetuity period, and the appointed day was defined as three days before its expire. The specified class of discretionary beneficiaries included the settlors’ children and remoter issue, their spouses and other family members. Their combined value ...

PJV v Assistant Director [2016] EWCOP 7

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | May 2016 #159

This judgment was supplemental to an earlier judgment of Charles J in this case delivered last year ([2015] EWCOP 87). PJV suffered significant cognitive and behaviour problems as a result of non-accidental head injuries he experienced as a baby. His mother made a claim under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) for an award in respect of this injury. PJV lacked capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to litigation or to accept an award from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). It was determined that the award would be held for PJV on trust as a c...

Trusts: Breaking the blank

In Ong v Ping the court considered a trust where the property held had not been identified. Oliver Hilton explains ‘Where the parties’ intention can be clearly and sufficiently ascertained from the available material and circumstances, the court will not be hamstrung by mere formalities, and will rarely hesitate in finding a way to give …
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James & anr v Louisewilliams & ors [2015] EWHC 1166 (Ch)

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | December 2015 #155

Thomas Edward Weetman (the deceased) died on 3 November 2008. His last will was executed on 19 September 2008 (the will). The principal assets in his estate (the estate) were shares in his company Weetman (Haulage & Storage) Ltd (the company) which he had successfully built up during his lifetime, and shares in a property known as Pasturefields Enterprise Park (the property) which the deceased owned but which was occupied, in whole or in part, by the company. The estate was of considerable value but illiquid. The will provided that fifty percent of the deceased’s shares in the ...