R (on the application of Walford) v Worcestershire County Council & anr [2014] EWHC 234 (Admin)
May 2014 #139The claimant challenged the decision of Worcestershire County Council to uphold its reversal of a previous decision to disregard a property, (Sunnydene) owned by her mother (Mary) in calculating her mother’s ability to pay care home charges.
Mary had lived at and owned Sunnydene for many years. Mary entered long term care on 24 November 2006. Shortly thereafter the claimant was informed that the property would not be disregarded after the 12 week statutory period. The claimant responded and requested a disregard. The claimant is over 60. She explained that although, since 1...
White v Matthys & ors [2014] EWHC 648 (Ch)
May 2014 #139Joseph Robson (the deceased) had two sons, the fourth and fifth defendants. When he retired in 1992, the deceased sold his residential property and moved to Spain. He did not own any property in the UK thereafter.
By a will dated 30 March 1995, the deceased left his Spanish estate to the fourth defendant absolutely. By a will dated 29 November 2006 (the 2006 will), the deceased appointed the claimant as his executor and left his residuary estate outside Spain to the British National Party (the BNP). The deceased died on 21 March 2010 leaving a net English estate of approximately £...
Best v HMRC
April 2014 #138The appellant was the executor of Alfred Buller. On Mr Buller’s death there was a transfer of value of 25,000 shares in Bullick Developments (1986) Ltd (the company). The company owned and managed the Valley Business Centre (the business centre). HMRC determined pursuant to s221 Inheritance Tax Act 1985 (the IHTA 1985) that the shares in the company were not relevant business property for the purposes of s104 IHTA 1984, having regard to s105(3) IHTA 1984, which prevents inter alia shares in a business whose activities mainly or wholly consist of holding of making investments from b...
Buzzoni v HMRC [2013] EWCA Civ 1684
April 2014 #138On 5 June 1996 Mrs Kamhi purchased a lease (the headlease) of a flat in Knightsbridge, London. On 21 November 1997 Mrs Kamhi granted an underlease (the underlease) to Ovalap Nominees Ltd. The underlease was granted without rent or premium being payable. On the same day Mrs Kamhi created by deed a settlement. The trustee was Legis Trust Ltd and the trust property was the underlease. Ovalap entered into the underlease as bare nomiee for Legis Trust Ltd.
On 24 March 2004 Parkside (Knightsbridge) Residents Ltd then granted Mrs Kamhi a new lease over the flat commencing 1 April 2003. ...
Kevern v Ayres & anr [2014] EWHC 165 (Ch)
April 2014 #138Raymond Ayres deceased died intestate on 4 June 2008. The claimant is the deceased’s sister and the first defendant his wife.
As the deceased left no issue, his estate devolved according to the intestacy rules. Accordingly, his chattels and a statutory legacy of £200,000 went to the first defendant absolutely and the remainder of his estate was divided equally between the claimant and first defendant.
In these circumstances, the first defendant intimated a claim for reasonable financial provision from the deceased’s estate. Given the potential for post-death i...
Manchester City Council v G & ors [2011] EWCA Civ 939
April 2014 #138This is an appeal from a judgment of Baker J [2010] EWHC 3385 (Fam) making an award of costs at the conclusion of long-running proceedings in the Court of Protection. The costs related to an interim hearing lasting eight days from January through to March, and, following judgment on 26 March 2010 ([2010] EWHC 621 (Fam)), a further hearing on 6 May 2010. In respect of costs, the judge said:
‘In all the circumstances, I conclude that this is a case for departing from the general rule set out in r157 of the Court of Protection Rules, and I make an order in the following terms:
1...Re McKeen [2013] EWHC 3639 (Ch)
April 2014 #138The 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...
Page & anr v Hewetts [2013] EWHC 2845 (Ch)
April 2014 #138The claimants were the administrators of their parents’ estates and they had engaged the defendants (a firm of solicitors and one of the firm’s legal executives) to advise them in the administration. The claimants commenced proceedings against the defendants for breach of duty and dishonestly procuring a secret profit in relation to the sale of the principal asset of the estate. Believing the matter to be time barred, the defendants made an application for summary judgment. The court allowed this application and dismissed the claims on the basis of expiration of the limitatio...
Santander UK PLC v RA Legal Soliciors [2013] EWHC 1380 (QB)
April 2014 #138Abbey National Building Society (now Santander UK PLC) (A) agreed to lend £150,000 to an individual (V) for the purpose of purchasing a property subject to taking a first legal charge. RA Legal Solicitors (R) conducted the conveyancing, acting for both V and A. The vendor’s solicitors (S) were a real firm but acted dishonestly falsely representing that they acted for the vendor. On 17 July 2009 A transferred £150,000 (plus fees) to RA’s bank account. S notified an account to which the completion monies should be sent and on 28 July 2009 S purported to exchange and complete and RA arrange...
The Vegetarian Society v Scott [2013] EWHC 4097 (Ch)
April 2014 #138This was a contentious probate action against all five of the wills of a schizophrenic testator. While he had benefitted from a stable and conventional childhood, the deceased had sustained serious injuries at the age of nineteen in a serious bicycle accident. He soon after succumbed to the symptoms of severe schizophrenia and logical thought disorder, from which he suffered for the remainder of his lifetime. His modes of living were unconventional. He lived alone on the fringes of society, and despite his considerable wealth, he lived in basic, if not squalid conditions. While it was ac...