McCallum-Toppin & anr v McCallum-Toppin & ors [2018] WTLR 531
Summer 2018 #172A member of the company died in 2006, leaving his shares by his will to be held on trust. In 2007 the first petitioner and one other executor and trustee took out a grant. In 2014 the second executor and trustee was replaced by an order under s.50 Administration of Justice Act 1985.
By a deed dated 14 July 2015 the replacement executor and trustee himself retired as trustee and was replaced by the second petitioner. That deed did not expressly vest any assets in the new trustee, nor was there any evidence before the court that the deceased’s shares had been vested in the ...
Meritus Trust Company v Butterfield Trust Ltd [2018] WTLR 545
Summer 2018 #172The Plaintiff (Meritus) was removed as the trustee of two trusts and replaced by the Defendant (Butterfield). Meritus applied by Originating Summons for an order that Butterfield transfer immediately all the assets of those trusts (the E Trust and the M Trust). Butterfield asserted, first, that it was entitled to retain sufficient trust assets against which to enforce its indemnity in relation to its contingent cost liability (estimated at $5 million) in relation to a threatened claim in respect of Butterfield’s management of the trust assets; second, that it was entitled to a contra...
Millar & anr v Millar & ors [2018] WTLR 563
Summer 2018 #172By a lifetime settlement dated 7 December 2005 two sisters settled property on trust as to income for their father during his lifetime and as to capital for themselves if living at the end of the trust period, or their issue if not. The trustees also had a power of appointment in favour of a class of beneficiaries which included the settlors.
However, clause 13 provided that “No discretion or power conferred on the Trustees or any other person by this Deed or by law shall be exercised, and no provision of this Deed shall operate directly or indirectly, so as to cause or permit any...
Mussell v Patience [2018] WTLR 579
Summer 2018 #172The judgment in this matter focused on the correct test that the court should apply when deciding whether to strike an entry from an account.
The claimant executors sought:
(1) a declaration that final estate accounts were in order; and
(2) directions to administer the estate accordingly.
The defendants raised objections to the accounts prepared by the executors, and in particular objected to 26 entries relating to legal services. The defendants asserted that, as beneficiaries, they had a right to assess whether such legal charges were re...
Purvis v Purvis [2018] WTLR 585
Summer 2018 #172The claimant, who was born in 1934, left all financial matters to her husband until his death in 2005. He had made ample provision for her, with an annual income of about £100,000. She lived in a large house, in Northumberland, which for inheritance tax planning reasons she transferred to her son, the defendant, in 2006. As she continued to live in the house, to comply with the reservation of benefit rules she paid her son a monthly rent of £2,500. The claimant’s health began to deteriorate in 2011, subsequently suffering a stroke which left her with hemiplegia. By 2013, as a conseq...
R (on the application of Conway) v The Secretary of State for Justice [2018] WTLR 597
Summer 2018 #172The Appellant, Mr Conway, suffered from terminal motor neurone disease. He sought a declaration under s4 of the Human Rights Act 1998 that s2(1) of the Suicide Act 1961, which makes assisted suicide a criminal offence, disproportionate interferes with his right to respect for his private life under Art8 of the ECHR.
At first instance, Mr Conway put forward four main arguments:
1. The ‘blanket ban’ on the provision of assistance for suicide constituted an interference with his Art8(1) rights in a way which is disproportio...
Shiner v The Commissioners for HM Revenue & Customs [2018] WTLR 649
Summer 2018 #172Facts
DS and IS were at all material times resident in the UK for tax purposes and were beneficially entitled to the income from MOH, an English property development company of which they were the shareholders and directors. On advice, they used a tax avoidance scheme that took advantage of the provisions of the 1955 UK-Isle of Man double tax treaty (DTT). These provisions exempted the industrial or commercial profits of an Isle of Man (IOM) enterprise, which could include a partnership, from UK tax unless it was engaged in trade or business in the UK through a permanent establis...
South Downs Trustees Ltd v GH [2018] WTLR 673
Summer 2018 #172The claimant was the trustee of an employment benefit trust (the EBT). The trustee had an interest in a company that owned and controlled a business (the utility). The beneficiaries of the EBT were the former and current employees of the utility and other group companies and their dependants. The trustee entered into a sale and purchase agreement for the sale of the EBT’s interest in the company, conditional upon certain relief from the court. Following the sale, there would be a distribution of the trust property amongst various beneficiaries.
Held
The fol...
TH v JH [2018] WTLR 693
Summer 2018 #172The applicant, TH, the donee of an enduring power of attorney for the property and affairs of his father, HH, applied for retrospective approval of payments and gifts made between 2011 and 2017 in the sums of £88,366 in favour of the applicant and his family, and £15,196 in favour of his brother JH, the first respondent, and his family. JH opposed approval of all sums save for £30,000.
HH lacked capacity and was unable to participate in any meaningful way in decisions about his welfare or property or affairs. He required constant care from August 2010. TH provided sporadic ...
X v Y [2018] WTLR 719
Summer 2018 #172The Trustee of a Cayman Islands trust (“the A Trust”) applied for Beddoe relief seeking directions permitting it to defend English proceedings, alleging misrepresentation and deceit, to which it had been joined as a defendant; and, in so doing, permitting it to borrow funds from another trust (“the C Trust”) to discharge the costs of defending the action, such costs to be ultimately reimbursed from the A Trust’s assets. An adverse judgement in the English proceedings in favour of the plaintiffs in the English proceedings (“Z”) would likely result in the complete loss of the A Trust’s onl...