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Vulture Syndrome

This week the Telegraph reported that the aptly name ' vulture syndrome' is to be blamed for the increase in disputes by families over a deceased's Will. As study has been carried out by leading London law firm Seddons on 3000 adults which reveals that one in ten of those surveyed have been, or are currently involved in, a dispute following a death in the last six months. Marvin Simons, the head of Dispute Resolutions at Seddons blames the rise in disputes on the current economic climate. He states that "with people being so much more concerned about money and property values being so depressed [it] is only likely to result in an escalation of these problems"................

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Statutory Wills

When making decisions about the property and welfare of a person lacking mental capacity the overarching principle pursuant to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 is that any decision made on behalf of that person must be made in his best interests. The case of Re P [2009] shows that guidance given under the Mental Capacity Acts 1959 and 1983 about the making of settlements or Wills could no longer be directly applied to a decision made under the 2005 Act. Judge Lewison sitting in the Court of Protection directed that a statutory Will........

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Tax Avoidance

As we know it is not illegal for a taxpayer to attempt to minimise or avoid tax by arranging their financial affairs in a certain way. It is only illegal to evade paying tax by failing t o d e c l a r e transactions or by declaring false amounts of income or capital. Where a tax payer evades the payment of tax the person could be open to both civil and criminal penalties. The revenue has previously challenged tax avoidance scheme, especially those which are complex and technical as they view them as artificial. Provisions have been put in place to deal with specific cases of tax avoidance, many of these schemes were designed to prevent income profits being treated as capital profits and therefore taxed at a lower rate. The Government has undertaken a wide review of the tax system to prevent further 'leakage' by avoidance schemes. Historically, before 1965, the approach of the courts to tax was that every man was entitled to arrange his affairs to minimise tax

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Trustees Duties

In a recent case the Court has made it obvious that it will not condone actions where trustees under a will do not discharge t h e ir duties properly. In this case the trustees were removed by the court and professional trustees were appointed in their place. The case arose because of a dispute over a Will, the last of several made by the testator, who was a multimillionaire. He made his final Will just four days before he died. The Will left his estate, which consisted mainly of shares in family companies (which were put in trust) and his home, to be distributed by his executors. The trustees were a solicitor, the man's son and two old friends who worked for a family business. The Will provided for a very unequal distribution of the estate between the man's children. The trust was a discretionary trust, giving the trustees the ultimate right to distribute income and capital . A codicil

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Bizarre Wills

Mr Zink was a lawyer in Iowa who died in 1930. In his Will he left $75,000 in trust for 75 years at the end of which time he hoped the fund would have swelled to $3 million, enough to found the Zink Womanless Library. The words No Women Admitted were to mark each entrance. No books, works of art, or decorations by women were to be permitted in or about the premises. "My intense hatred of women," he explained in the will, "is not of recent origin or development nor based upon any personal differences I ever had with them but is the result of my experiences with women, observations of them, and study of all literatures and philosophical works." His family successfully challenged the........

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Death Certificates

The Coroners and Justice Bill overhauls the law on the coroners' service, creating a post of chief coroner for England and Wales to be held by a High Court judge, new national standards for coroners' investigations and powers to transfer investigations into deaths from one area to another to prevent the backlogs that occurred in the hearing of military inquests arising from deaths in Iraq. It also brings in a new death certification system in the aftermath of the Shipman murders.   Currently there is no statutory requirement or provision for confirmation or certification of the cause of death although a doctor is usually summoned to confirm that death has occurred. A doctor who has attended the deceased during their last illness can issue a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) which is a standard form used throughout England and Wales. The completed MCCD is handed to a relative or other appropriate person ("the informant") and that person attends the local registry office to register the death.....
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Inheritance Tax Exemptions

Inheritance Tax is a c o n s i d e r a b l e concern to most clients particularly when they begin the process of writing a will and considering to whom their estate will be left. In previous times of spiralling property prices, the number of individuals whose assets exceed the Nil-Rate Band has continued to increase. As a result, more and more people are looking for ways to minimise their Inheritance Tax liabilities.   Competent IHT planning is essential to ensure the beneficiaries of your client's will are not going to be burdened with an unaffordable tax bill. There are numerous techniques that can be used in order to achieve this, but one of the key elements of any successful Inheritance Tax strategy is the efficient use of exempt and potentially exempt transfers. Potentially exempt transfers can be.....
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Will Clauses

New case law has led to the Privy Council providing more guidance on the interpretation of Wills in general and the expression 'per stirpes'. The debate in this case related to Clause 6 in the Will of the deceased who died in the Bahamas in 2004. He left a multi million pound estate, a portion of which was left under the following clause: 25% to a) my cousins (of which there were 4) and b) my ex-spouse in equal shares and if any of them predecease (the ex spouse or cousins) then to their issue per stirpes.   The issue of construction related to whether, under this clause, each took 5% or whether it was divided into two equal portions, one shared by the cousins and one for the ex-wife. The judge found in favour of the wife and the cousins appealed. On appeal Lord Philips stated that the starting point when construing any will was to attempt to deduce the intention of the testator by giving the wording
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Illegitimate Children

With 45% of children being born outside of marriage illegitimacy raises not only questions of principle but also technical points on drafting. Although it is a matter for the testator to decide whether any illegitimate children should be included as beneficiaries under a Will if a drafter is asked for any advice the preference should be to include them according to James Kessler QC. Not only is this reflective of the 'modern world' but has a practical advantage. Parents are under a legal obligation to maintain their children, whether they are legitimate or not. Protection is available to trustees however where the existence of an illegitimate child is unknown at the time of distribution. This was previously given by statute in s.17 Family

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Contesting a Will

In August 2006, Mark Birley, the founder of an aristocratic night spot in London, passed away leaving an amassed fortune of £105 million. The extraordinary dispute over the multi million pound legacy that has split one of Britain's leading society families, has been privately settled. Shortly before his death, Mark Birley tore up his original Will after an argument sparked by the discovery that his son had used £200,000 of the night club's profits. He had used the money to hire a private detective after he suspected his sister's new partner was a gold digger. Mark Birley rewrote his Will following this dispute with his son, Robin Birley, and a further disagreement over the management of the renowned nightclub 'Annabel's'. The amended Will left the majority of his fortune

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