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 en...
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...
Chaston v Chaston [2018] WTLR 391
Summer 2018 #172The parties were three of the four children of Sybil and John Chaston (‘the parents’). They inherited from their parents a freehold property (‘the Property’). The Property was currently held by the Appellants and the Respondent upon trust for the Respondent as to 50%, and as to 25% for each of the two Appellants.
In proceedings brought under s14 of the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 the District Judge ordered that the Property should be sold to the Respondent at a price to be determined by a valuation exercise.
The hearing before the District Judge ...
Davies v Morris [2018] WTLR 405
Summer 2018 #172The defendant in the present claim had brought a probate action in respect of the will of the deceased; the claimants in the present claim were defendants in the probate action. In the course of the probate action the judge made an order in a preliminary application for the determination of the deceased’s domicile at his death. It had been the present defendant’s position that the deceased had retained his domicile of origin in England and Wales, whereas the present claimants had argued that he had acquired a domicile of choice in Belgium, so that under Belgian law the will was void as a...
Gestrust SA v Sixteen Defendants [2018] WTLR 421
Summer 2018 #172The 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...
Haastrup & anr v Haastrup & anr [2018] WTLR 445
Summer 2018 #172The second defendant company was the registered proprietor of property in England. It was dissolved in 2003, and the property was subsequently sold by the Crown as bona vacantia in July 2012. In October 2012 the deceased, who had been the sole shareholder and director of the second defendant, died. The first claimant claimed to be his widow and a beneficiary upon intestacy. The second claimant was the deceased’s son and beneficiary of a will. The first defendant claimed to be the son of the deceased, but paternity was disputed.
In 2013 the first defendant applied to resto...
R (Haworth) v HMRC [2018] WTLR 459
Summer 2018 #172On an application for judicial review, the claimant challenged the decisions of HMRC to issue him with a follower notice and an accelerated payment notice in relation to gains arising to the Trustees of a settlement (‘the Trust’) from the disposal of assets. The claimant was the settlor and, along with his family, a beneficiary of the Trust. The notices were issued under Part 4 of the Finance Act 2014.
A follower notice can be given where the principles laid down or reasoning given in a final judicial ruling would, if applied to the taxpayer’s chosen arrangements, deny h...
Lehtimaki v CIFF [2018] WTLR 491
Summer 2018 #172The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (UK) (‘CIFF’) was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee without a share capital on 8 February 2002 with the aim of improving the lives of children in developing countries. It had been founded by two of the respondents, Sir Christopher Hohn and his then wife, Jamie Cooper. Each of them, both of whom were members and trustees, had contributed to the charity’s success. The only other member, though not a trustee, was the Appellant. The present litigation had its origins in the breakdown of the relationship between Sir Christopher Hohn and J...
Lloyd v Ayres [2018] WTLR 521
Summer 2018 #172The deceased died in January 2008 and letters of administration were granted later that month. The deceased’s death was unexpected, and within a year of her remarriage to the defendant A, which had revoked her previous will leaving her property to her previous spouse and her children. The claimant, L, a son of the deceased, was 17 when the deceased died, and had some mental health difficulties. He was permitted to continue to live in the deceased’s home with his brother and A for some years, until 2014. L was an in-patient in a mental hospital for a time during 2015, and first sought leg...