Kubicka [2018] WTLR 933
Autumn 2018 #173Each of K, a Polish national resident in Germany, and her husband had a 50% share of immovable property in Germany. K wished to include in her will a legacy ‘by vindication’ concerning the German property in favour of her husband. A legacy by vindication passed an asset, including a share in a right of ownership of immovable property, to a specified person on the opening of the succession. This was to be distinguished from a legacy ‘by damnation’, under which the heir must transfer the right in property to the legatee. K wished to leave the rest of the assets in her estate in accordance ...
Mahnkopf v Mahnkopf [2018] WTLR 947
Autumn 2018 #173Mr Mahnkopf was married to Mrs Mahnkopf when he died on 29 August 2015. Both spouses, who had German nationality, were habitually resident in Berlin. The deceased made no disposition of property upon death and his sole heirs were his wife and only son. Mr and Mrs Mahnkopf were subject to the statutory property regime of community of accrued gains and had not entered into a marriage contract. In addition to assets situated in Germany, the estate included a half share in the co-ownership of a property in Sweden. The Amtsgericht Schonenberg, which was the Probate Court with jurisdiction in ...
PCB v JMA & ors [2018] WTLR 961
Autumn 2018 #173
JMA, who was aged 72 years, suffered from early onset dementia and lived in a care home which she paid for privately. She no longer had the capacity to take decisions about making gifts and the medical evidence suggested that she would only live for a further 3 to 5 years. The applicant was a son by her first marriage; her daughter having died in January 2009. JMA inherited from her last husband, who died in January 2010, his entire estate which was derived from the sale of businesses which had realised approximately £11m. The applicant was appointed sole attorney under a L...
Smith-Tyrrell & anr v Bowden [2018] WTLR 987
Autumn 2018 #173The claimants occupied land at Falmouth in Cornwall (the property) initially pursuant to a written agreement for the grant of a 15-year lease from 1 January 1993 at a rent of £400 per annum. The agreement was never signed by the defendant’s parents, who were then the freehold owners, with the result that it did not qualify as a valid agreement for the grant of a tenancy of 15 years, due to failure to comply with the requirements of s2 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989. After the expiry of the 15-year period, the claimants continued to pay, and the defendant to ac...
Tang v Tang & ors [2018] WTLR 1019
Autumn 2018 #173T died intestate. D1, one of the administrators of T’s estate, purchased a property using estate funds to cover around 40% of the purchase price, without informing P, one of the beneficiaries of the estate. Soon after completion of the purchase, D1 repaid the money to the estate, with interest at a rate that he selected, labelling the transaction as a loan. Later, when the property’s value had increased, P became aware of D1’s actions and brought proceedings to recover the profit made by him.
Held
D1 was a fiduciary who had made a profit by the application of his principal’...
Thompson v Raggett & ors [2018] WTLR 1027
Autumn 2018 #173Wynford Hodge died on 4 February 2017 leaving a will under which he gave his residuary estate to the fourth and fifth defendants, who were tenants of one of the deceased’s properties. He made no provision for his partner, the Claimant, with whom he had lived as man and wife for 42 years. It was accepted that the Claimant was financially dependent upon the deceased immediately before his death.
In 2016 the deceased had purchased a cottage with a view to residing there with the Claimant. However, due to ill health, this plan never came to fruition. The deceased died leaving a net es...
Ubbi & anr v Ubbi [2018] WTLR 1039
Autumn 2018 #173M and S married in September 2000. They had met in 1987, purchased their first home together in 1988 and developed a business (WP Ltd) together. S had a child from a previous relationship, whom M had treated as his own daughter. M and S had a child (J) together in 1994; J suffered from hemiplegia, paralysis to one side of the body, and learning difficulties. In 2007, B started working with M and they started an affair. In 2010 M made his will, appointing S to be his executor and leaving his estate to her. At about the same time M and S bought another property, Poplar Court. In 2012 M and...
Re A’s Application [2018] WTLR 353
Summer 2018 #172The trustee applied under s61 of the Isle of Man Trustee Act 1961, alternatively under the court’s inherent jurisdiction, for the opinion, advice or direction of the court in relation to its intention to negotiate with a foreign revenue authority for the discharge of tax liabilities of the settlement, the disclosure of information necessary for that purpose, and the payment of the tax irrespective of whether they are enforceable in the Isle of Man. The beneficiaries agreed with the relief sought.
Held, allowing the application:
1) Trustees were entitled to seek the approva...Borrows v HM Coroner for Preston [2018] WTLR 365
Summer 2018 #172.This case concerned the burial arrangements of Liam McManus (Liam), who took his life aged just 15. Liam had a difficult upbringing. His parents were heroin addicts and so he was brought up by his maternal grandparents in Liverpool until he entered foster care aged 5. Two years later he moved in with the claimant, Mr Burrows, (who was Liam’s paternal uncle) and his family in St Helens and a full residence order was made in favour of the claimant and his wife. Mr and Mrs Burrows were described as his psychological parents.
In the year before he died, Liam made contact with h...
Burnden Holdings (UK) Ltd v Fielding & anr [2018] WTLR 379
Summer 2018 #172This appeal arose from an application by the defendants for summary judgment, dismissing the claim on the ground that it was statute-barred. The claim was for (and was for the purposes of the application assumed to have been) an unlawful distribution by the claimant company six years and three days before the issue of the claim form. Although, by the time of the hearing but after permission had been given to appeal, the claimant had amended its claim to include an allegation of fraud, so that there could not be summary judgment, the court considered the issue as to the meaning of s23(1)(...