Watts v Watts Claim no: HC02C02559
December 2014 #145The claimant Arthur Watts (Arthur) sued his brother James Watts (James) in respect of trust transactions in 1998.
In 1967 Geoffrey Watts, the father of Arthur and James, made a settlement in favour of his children and grandchildren. In 1976 this trust fund was split into separate trust funds for each of Geoffrey’s children. James was one of the trustees of Arthur’s trust fund. The main beneficiaries were Arthur in his lifetime and thereafter his legitimate children. Clause 4 allowed the trustees to pay all the capital to Arthur if they considered it to be to his advantage. In 1989...
The Charity Commission for England and Wales v Framjee & ors [2014] EWHC 2507 (Ch)
November 2014 #144The Dove Trust (the trust) was established by a declaration of trust dated 16 June 1983 for such charitable purposes as the trustees should in their discretion from time to time think fit. It was subsequently registered as a charity.
In 2004 a website for charitable giving called www.charitygiving.co.uk (the website) was established for the purpose of facilitating members of the public to make donations to the trust for the benefit of other charities or good causes of their choice. Donations which were charitable could then be augmented by gift aid, which the trust would claim sub...
Marley v Rawlings & anr [2014] WTLR 1511
November 2014 #144Mr Rawlings (the deceased) and his wife Mrs Rawlings made mirror wills in 1999. Mrs Rawlings died in 2003 and her estate passed to her husband. However, upon the death of Mr Rawlings in 2006, it became apparent that the solicitor involved in the preparation of the wills had accidentally presented Mr and Mrs Rawlings with, and each had signed, the will intended for the other. The validity of the will was subsequently challenged by the deceased’s two sons, who were not entitled under the will but stood to inherit his £70,000 estate under the rules of intestacy. The Supreme Court held that ...
Novoship (UK) Limited & ors v Nikitin & ors [2014] EWCA Civ 908
November 2014 #144Mr Mikhaylyuk (M), a manager for the first respondent, NOUK, with responsibility for negotiating the charters of vessels owned by companies within the Novoship group, the remaining respondents, owed fiduciary duties to all the respondents. M had arranged a series of schemes by which he defrauded his principals and enriched himself and others by the payment of bribes given to him by those who chartered his principals’ vessels. These schemes included one concerning vessels chartered to companies owned and controlled by Mr Ruperti (R) which R then sub-chartered at substantially higher rates...
Patel v Mirza [2014] EWCA Civ 1047
November 2014 #144The appellant was a property dealer and the respondent was a foreign exchange broker, who had a personal spread-betting account with IG Index. In August 2009, a third party informed the appellant of a deal offered by the respondent that involved a bet on the movement in the value of shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The defendant claimed to know people who sat in on meetings between the heads of RBS and officials from the government, and it was expected the Chancellor would make a public statement which would have an effect on the share price of RBS. Following an initial telephone ...
Quaintance v Tandan [2012] EWHC 4416 (Ch)
November 2014 #144Mr Quaintance (the defendant) appealed against the decision of HHJ Ellis granted on 24 May 2012. The original decision had been made in a contested application made by Miss Tandan (the claimant) under the Trusts of Land and Trustees Act 1996 for a determination of shares in a property (the property). The outcome of the decision was that the net proceeds of sale following the discharge of the mortgage currently being held by the mortgagee should all be paid to the claimant. Half of these had been paid to the claimant following the decision. The defendant appealed in respect of the other h...
Setchim & anr v Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs & Ors [2014] EWHC 2218 (Ch)
November 2014 #144The Commonwealth Institute (CIC) (a charitable company limited by guarantee) was placed in members’ voluntary winding-up on 19 July 2007. The CIC had a complex history which dated back to 1887. In the 1950s HM Government (HMG) proposed that the predecessors to the CIC trustees should surrender their lease of their premises in South Kensington (the Kensington building) and move to a new premises at Holland Park. The predecessors of CIC were in receipt of rent and benefited from free utilities (the associated entitlements) under the terms of a sub-lease of the Kensington building. Th...
ZYN, R (on the application of) v Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council [2014] EWHC 1918
November 2014 #144ZYN was seriously disabled and was reliant on community care services, part of which was provided by Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council (the council). She had substantial capital assets, amounting to around £550,000 deriving from compensation paid in settlement of a personal injury claim. This case concerned the statutory exceptions to the general government policy that those with assets are required to contribute to the cost of services to the cost of services they receive from a local authority.
The council had sought to charge ZYN for the full cost of social care services whi...
Oatley & ors v Oatley Powney & ors [2014] EWHC 1956 (Ch)
October 2014 #143In January 1995 Mr Donald Oatley, his wife Mrs Patricia Oatley, their three sons Andrew, Martin and Michael (the three claimants), and a solicitor, Mr Boyd, signed a deed of settlement. The beneficiaries were the spouses and issue of the claimants. Mrs Oatley died in 2002. Mr Oatley contracted cancer in 2006 and died in January 2007.
The Oatleys own a farming company with 4,333 shares owned by each claimant and 13,001 by the settlement. In 1985 Mr and Mrs Oatley created two discretionary trusts for some of their shares of the company, with the beneficiaries being their issue and ...
Rawstron & anr (executrices of the estate of Lucian Freud) v Freud [2014] EWHC 2577 (Ch)
October 2014 #143Lucian Freud (the deceased) achieved international recognition as an outstanding painter and draughtsman, and he acquired considerable wealth over the course of his long and successful life. His final will was dated 10 May 2006 (the 2006 will), superseding his previous will of 25 June 2004 (the 2004 will). Both wills were professionally drafted. His residuary estate, after payment of legacies and inheritance tax, was estimated at around £42m.
The claim was brought by the claimants under CPR Part 8 in their capacity as executrices of the deceased’s final will. The first claimant wa...